
Teachers concerned about threat posed by AI
There is growing concern among teachers about at a lack of adequate guidelines and training on artificial intelligence (AI), according to new research.
The survey of over 1,000 Teachers' Union of Ireland (TUI) members shows that 85% of respondents believe that AI poses a threat to fairness, particularly in relation to assessments.
93% said they believe that the Department of Education and the Department of Further and Higher Education need to provide training to teachers in the area of AI, while 95% think that more information and guidelines are required.
The research has been released ahead of the TUI Annual Congress which will begin in Wexford tomorrow.
The survey outlines a range of concerns around teacher shortages, the affordability of the profession for new entrants, unsustainable workloads and Senior Cycle reform.
"It is alarming in the extreme that 78% of those who entered the profession before 2015 said that they could not afford to become a teacher today given impediments such as the accommodation crisis and having to survive on contracts of low hours," said TUI President David Waters.
"It is also of worry that one in three recent appointments would consider leaving Ireland to teach in another country," Mr Waters said.
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RTÉ News
3 days ago
- RTÉ News
ASTI calls for talks with department after Leaving Cert reform rejection
The ASTI has called for talks with the Department of Education following the rejection by its members of measures to support implementation of the Senior Cycle redevelopment programme from this September. Commenting on the comprehensive rejection by teachers' union members of the proposals, the union's General Secretary Kieran Christie said "we think there is scope for further engagement". Asked about the possibility of additional talks now Minister for Education Helen McEntee said Leaving Certificate reform will still go ahead this September and the package of measures that have been agreed will remain. The ASTI rejection, and its strength, has come as a surprise to many as 67% of members rejected the plans in a ballot that had a high turnout - 73% of members. Members also gave their union a mandate for action up to and including industrial action. A week earlier, Teachers Union of Ireland members voted to accept the measures. The TUI leadership had recommended acceptance, whereas the ASTI made no recommendation to its members. The ASTI rejection is a significant indication of the concern felt by teachers around aspects of the reform. What it will mean for the implementation of Senior Cycle reform is not as yet clear. The union's next steps have yet to be agreed upon. Its executive is due to meet in ten days time and, according to Mr Christie, will "be looking at the outcome of the ballot and considering a way forward". Mr Christie said there was "a need now for calm heads to prevail". Teacher concerns centre on Additional Assessment Components (ACCs), which will be worth 40% of all marks in a revamped senior cycle. The AACs will typically involve practical project work completed during the year, which will then be written up into a report and will then be assessed. Teacher concerns include the potential for students to use AI to cheat when writing these reports. There are also other concerns around equity. The science subjects are among the first to be revamped, starting this September for students entering 5th year. Biology teacher and member of the union's Executive Council Adrieanne Healy said teachers were looking for the changes to be paused for a year. Calling the introduction "rushed", she said while some private fee-charging schools had state-of-the-art science laboratories as well as lab technicians, many other schools had facilities of a far lower standard. She said teachers were concerned about the impact of this inequality on student outcomes. Commenting on teacher worries around the potential misuse of AI by students, in order to cheat, Ms Healy said teachers could not understand why a system with "100% integrity" was being replaced with one with only "60% integrity". Speaking later, the Minister for Education said reform of the Leaving Certificate will be an "absolute game changer" for students. "This is about equipping our young people for what is an ever-changing world. It's about taking our pressure off them, that absolute focus on exams at the end of the year and making sure we are testing their abilities, different skills, different requirements for people to move into the workforce," Helen McEntee said. She said acknowledged the ASTI statement but added "Leaving Cert reform will still go ahead this September". "All of the unions have signed up to this as part of the public sector pay agreement," she said.

Irish Times
5 days ago
- Irish Times
Reformed Leaving Cert would allow too many opportunities to cheat using AI
A recent report from Mary Immaculate College, University College Cork and the University of Limerick confirmed something maths teachers are tired of saying: the 25 bonus points for Leaving Cert maths have led to an overall decline in standards and an increase in student stress. When the measure was mooted in 2010, people such as Prof Kathleen Lynch predicted exactly this outcome. It has taken 15 years to confirm that well-intentioned changes designed to improve matters harmed students and standards instead. The unintended consequences of the 25 bonus points, along with an unsatisfactory junior cycle reform, raised the stakes still higher for Leaving Cert reform. The TUI has voted in favour of implementing senior cycle reform. The shock is that the ASTI did not follow suit . Given that everything from pay rises to additional middle management promotions were dependent on voting yes, this is a courageous move which now gives the Minister a clear message about how principled the opposition is. READ MORE After years of dithering, in September 2023, accelerated reform was announced in a completely unachievable time frame. As a consequence, reformed English, due to start in 2026, will now be delayed until the State Examinations Commission can figure out how to deliver an oral exam for every single Leaving Cert student. Yet, new Leaving Cert science subjects will begin from August, despite significant health and safety implications for all students carrying out individual investigations in inadequate laboratory spaces. Well-off students with better facilities will easily outpace students from deprived areas. Coursework counting for 40 per cent is a particular bone of contention in the age of generative AI. The proposed AI taskforce to be set up in August is not only too late for the incoming subjects, it is reprehensibly late for existing Leaving Cert coursework. The general approach to coursework, aside from some subjects such as music and art, is to conduct an investigation, carry out a practical, or write an extended essay and then submit an account of it in a standardised booklet. This approach will continue in many of the reformed subjects. The standardised booklets have a similar format: state the title, describe the approach, give the findings and comment on what you learned from the process. Every step is already susceptible to AI intervention, from brainstorming ideas and generating a structure for each section to writing the entire piece. Even without plagiarism, this approach most benefits those with fluent language skills. In this newspaper, science teacher Adrienne Healy queried the value of writing a narrative about conducting a science experiment. As she says, asking musicians to demonstrate how they 'play their guitar through a written report ... would be ridiculous and useless'. Why is it appropriate for science subjects? External examination reinforces accountability. Before agricultural science was redeveloped in 2018, students carried out an investigation and wrote about it. An external inspector then asked questions of random students and examined their folders. This approach has now been dropped. At junior cycle, in home economics 50 per cent of the marks are for a practical cooking demonstration that is externally examined, but at Leaving Cert, research followed by a practical demonstration is submitted via a journal. The practical is not examined. The English oral is less susceptible to plagiarism, yet its introduction is being delayed while the science subjects are forced to go ahead Leaving Cert reform presented an opportunity to test a range of skills other than writing, particularly vital in an age generative AI. As Australian researchers from Deakin University say bluntly , 'GenAI challenges assessment validity by enabling students to complete tasks without demonstrating genuine capability.' Regarding GenAI, the researchers contrast discursive changes versus structural changes in assessment at third level. Most changes have been discursive. Students are given guidelines akin to traffic lights as to how much they can use AI, red being not at all and green allowing usage at every stage. This relies completely on student compliance. Discursive changes 'direct behaviour they cannot monitor. They prohibit actions they cannot detect.' In contrast, structural changes are 'modifications that directly alter the nature, format or mechanics of how a task must be completed, such that the success of these changes is not reliant on' student compliance. Ironically, the English oral represents a structural change because it tests essential skills in a way less susceptible to plagiarism. Yet its introduction is being delayed while the science subjects are forced to go ahead. Structural assessment changes involve more human input, not less, including strategies such as oral exams and external inspection, all of which cost money. The Department of Education is already under pressure to cut costs. But what are the consequences for the future of education? Or student stress? The current timetable for submission of coursework runs from November to May of sixth year. When there is coursework worth 40 per cent in every single subject, inevitably deadlines will have to move back into fifth year. This move to fifth year is already being resisted by the association of English teachers, Inote, because students will not be ready. If submission deadlines move back to fifth year, or even if they are packed into sixth year, the result will be chronic stress with little respite, exactly the opposite of the planned outcome. Let's hope it does not take 15 years to admit it.


RTÉ News
09-05-2025
- RTÉ News
TUI urges members to support Leaving Certificate reform
Talks over Leaving Certificate subject reforms between the teacher unions and the Department of Education have concluded, with a package of supports offered for implementation of Senior Cycle Redevelopment from September. The Teachers Union of Ireland has said it will be recommending acceptance of the measures in a ballot of members. The ASTI trade union is also expected to ballot members. The measures include specific supports for the first tranche of subjects due to be introduced this September, including an increase in the amount of the current annual Physics and Chemistry grant and the extension of its scope to include Biology and Agricultural Science. Working groups will also be established to support the implementation and monitoring of the new programme including in areas related to AI. The Department says it has committed to "early rapid reviews" related to the implementation of revised subject specifications, including the operation of assessment arrangements. "Proceeding with the introduction of new and revised subjects under Senior Cycle Redevelopment in September, is in the best interest of students. It will help to reduce the pressure faced by students, while recognising a broader range of skills and ensuring that students have the skills necessary to thrive and succeed in a rapidly changing world", Minister for Education Helen McEntee said. TUI President David Watees said: "The Union believes that these proposals are the best that could be achieved through negotiation and that they have the potential to allay concerns expressed by teachers in terms of both workload and the resources required by schools and teachers to implement Senior Cycle redevelopment."