Presented and produced by Seán Delaney.

On this week's podcast my guest is Perry Share, who is Head of Student Success at Atlantic Technological University. Among the topics we discuss are:

• The impact of taking a module with Hilary Tovey on rural sociology and a module with Brian Torode and Barbara Bradby on language, discourse and French theory.
• Perry’s belief that artificial intelligence is a catalyst that helps us better understand and question contemporary practices around teaching, learning and assessment.
• Artificial intelligence forces us to ask questions like "What does it mean to assess students?" "How can we teach in ways that are engaging and productive for students?"
• In education, the arts and the humanities, we take text as a representation of what is in students’ heads and tend to make assumptions about the knowledge, understanding or learning held by the student. The foundation is taken out of this when we don’t know where the text comes from.
• Problems are outlined with the take-home assignment, oral assessments and standard written exams but the “unsolvable” problems may constitute a productive space for educators.
• The likes of ChatGPT can be used effectively in fields where you have knowledge. An area of concern in higher education is in relation to fields where people are just beginning to acquire knowledge and understanding. In addition, artificial intelligence threatens opportunities to learn on internships in professional placements.
• Perhaps the role of “learned” knowledge becomes increasingly important for novices in a field whereas in recent years the importance of critical thinking has been lauded.
• It is likely that resources will need to shift from activities we currently value to new – yet-to-be-determined – resources at secondary and higher education levels.
• What prompt engineering is.
• Ethan Mollick’s book Co-Intelligence.
• Examples of good and not-so-good prompts.
• How Perry is using ChatGPT in his own work: summarising large documents; combining documents; Brainstorming; Outlining a proposed structure of a document or presentation. It has been used for computer programming and other tasks.
• Data protection implications may need to be considered in relation to some uses.
• In the future it may be used to grade and provide feedback for public exams.
• Various kinds of data on the results would be available almost immediately.
• Decline in language learning in many countries due to the dominance of English and due to the availability of translation tools.
• The days of the academic essay may be numbered.
• Simulations may be a future direction of assessment in professional settings but these too are not without complications.
• Can we avoid interacting with artificial intelligence?
• Impact on equity in education.
• If students can teach themselves, where does that leave the teacher? There is a job of imagination for teachers to start thinking about how they will work alongside artificial intelligence.
• The impact of artificial intelligence on what (and who) we can trust.
• People Perry respects on the topic of artificial intelligence: Anna Mills, a lecturer in academic writing in the United States; Charles Knight who works for Advance HE; Maha Bali at the America University of Cairo on critical artificial intelligence (environmental, commercial and ethical impacts).
• The purpose of school.
• Daryl Nation
• Raewyn Connell’s book The Good University.

Perry's own expanding list of resources on artificial intelligence is available here.

Presented and produced by Seán Delaney.

The format of this podcast differs a bit from the usual one in that I am joined by my colleague in Marino Institute of Education, Dr. Gene Mehigan to discuss a book that influenced him on his journey as a teacher and teacher educator. The Book is The Master by Bryan MacMahon, published by Poolbeg Press in 1992. Among the topics we discuss are the following:

• How a book about teaching in Rural Ireland from the 1930s to the 1970s could speak to a teacher in a DEIS band 1 school in Darndale in the 1980s and 1990s.
• The consequences of poverty on children in schools.
• The “stain” of large classes (and their impact on children with language difficulties in particular).
• The importance of reading
• How Bryan MacMahon encouraged children to collect words (red notebook) and Gene Mehigan’s variation of it (jar on teacher’s desk).
• Stages in a reading lesson as outlined by Bryan MacMahon (who noted that they are not rigid and may need modern modification):
  • Arousal of interest (day before)
  • Introduction (before lesson begins to heighten interest in the text)
  • Examination of matter expressed in the text (Comprehension)
  • Examination of matter implied in the text (Comprehension)
  • Write difficult words on blackboard (Tier 1, 2 and 3 words today)
  • Teacher models reading
  • Children read aloud or silently
  • Isolate phrases for composition usage
  • Informed organic chat (in style of everyday conversation)
  • Dramatisation of the text (Reader’s theatre today)
  • Committal to rote “not to be scorned on special occasions”
• Why a teacher needs to back down in a confrontational situation with a pupil
• Characteristics of a good teacher;
  • Dedication
  • Sense of humour
  • Clear penetration in the timbre of the teacher’s speaking voice
  • A love of learning
  • Versatility of approach to a lesson
  • A congenial monotony (that can be departed from)
  • Occasional informal language
  • Good blackboard use and being able to sketch
  • Act in harmony with the traditions and culture of the school area
• Bringing the extraordinary into your teaching.
• The teacher’s job is to help each child find their special gift.
• Bryan MacMahon: “I realised that each child had a gift, and that the ‘leading out’ of that gift was the proper goal of teaching. To me a great teacher was simply a great person teaching.”
• Thoughts on a school library, access to books and encouraging children to read.
• Trying to entice children to read by tidying books. Buddy reading – to help beginning or reluctant readers but also helping older children consolidate their interest it reading. Helping a teacher narrow down who in a class might have dyslexia
• How Brian MacMahon practised an early version of “home-school liaison”
• Contemporary resonances – children from Germany fostered by local families during World War II.
• How Bryan MacMahon recruited children to look after other children who were vulnerable in some way
• Resonances with Johathan Haidt’s book The Coddling of the American Mind (preparing the child for the road and not the road for the child).
• How learning tables enthusiastically helped a pupil later excel as an emigrant
• “A school is nothing if it is not a place of laughter and song.”
• Sources of creativity in education
• The importance of a teacher being a philomath.