Beyond the myths: how AI is reshaping classrooms and challenging old fears

Angela Aliaga
Oct 15
8 min read

The growing role of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in classrooms has ignited a widespread debate arguing whether it can be viewed as a valuable educational tool, or if it poses as a risk to children’s cognitive development.

Cognitive psychologists argue that mastery comes from effort, not shortcuts, but with AI now delivering instant solutions, a pressing question emerges: are today’s students exercising their brains enough?

While many institutions are cautiously integrating AI into their teaching, the long-term effects remain unclear with a 2025 report finding nearly 80 per cent of Australian schools already using AI in some form, with many seeking ways to expand its role in learning.

Australia has adopted a national framework for the use of generative AI in schools but the way it looks in practice can vary depending on the state/territory system, Catholic schools, or independent schools, since they interpret and implement the principles slightly differently.

Several states and non-government bodies have developed their own in-house AI chatbots such as NSWEduChat, SA EdChat, and various Catholic CoPilots to control safety, privacy and contextual alignment for students.

Though scepticism continues to increase, history has demonstrated that humanity has not only accepted change but transformed it into opportunity.

Challenging old fears

UniSA Education Futures Associate Professor Vitomir Kovanovic says it is important for society to develop alongside technology as inventions like the calculator and the internet improved how humans learn and access information.

“AI won’t make us dumb. It will change what we prioritise.

“Critical thinking will become even more important than it was before.”

Amalia, a 14-year-old student from NSW, says AI is used in several of her classes, and even uses it for generating quick comebacks when her younger sister gets on her nerves.

Though she challenges herself to avoid depending on AI’s rapid solutions, she feels increasingly confident when learning alongside AI’s assistance.

“I do worry that I get [the answer] wrong without using it.”

Amalia fears that originality is slipping away in her year level, replaced by a reliance on pre-written material and cut-and-paste answers.

“Some people […] constantly go on it and nothing is their original thoughts,” she says.

“I think that I learn better without using AI because with AI I just get the answer, and I don’t really learn anything.”

She says she is encouraged to utilise the AI resources her school allows such as CoPilot in most of her classes except for Mathematics and English where teachers adopt a more traditional approach to learning.

“My English teacher prefers us to work on pen and paper because she wants us to be creative.”

It may not be as hard as we thought

Macquarie University pre-service teacher, Daniel Lawther, has noticed a troubling trend amongst his students as they obtain a high reliance on AI for a wide range of tasks – from basic definitions to creative writing and submitting assignments. However, Mr Lawther approaches the dominant rise of AI with an optimistic vision as it is a phenomenon we cannot avoid.

“It’s not as scary as it’s made out to be because you can simply remove these […] laptops from your classroom.”

When asked whether his university was providing him with the skills needed to teach future students using AI, he explained that his coursework had integrated the technology through assignments requiring lesson design with AI.

Mr Lawther, who also works as a casual teacher at St. John XXIII Catholic College, noted that the school actively incorporates AI in classrooms, with teachers guiding students to craft effective prompts that enhance their learning.

Mr Lawther highlighted that agency plays a vital role in learning today, insisting that students must recognise the teacher, not AI, as the authoritative presence in the classroom.

“You are in charge of lesson design, lesson planning, instructional design.”

Although Mr Lawther is yet to graduate from university, he strives to provide his future students with a hands-on approach to learning suggesting laptops stay outside of the classroom.

“Don’t let them in the classroom. Bring your workbooks, [and] your novels.”

From burnout to balance: the role of AI in reducing teachers' workload

According to the Queensland Teachers’ Union (QTU), Australia is currently experiencing a teaching crisis which is directly linked to a multitude of facets.

QUT’s School of Education, Associate Professor, Dr Anna Hogan, is leading research into the challenges teachers face with heavy workloads, often described as “time poverty.” Through a partnership with QTU, her work examines how teachers manage their day and why many are leaving the profession due to unmanageable demands.

Dr Hogan said that although Generative AI speeds up the time spent on tasks, other requirements such as aligning content with the local curriculum, differentiating for student needs, amongst other things may consume more time, which can shift, rather than reduce the workload, revealing that teachers may need specialised training to be able to efficiently and productively prompt Generative AI.

But as time poverty engulfs classrooms, one can’t help but wonder, are we truly easing teachers’ workload, or just weighing them down further?

Rising workload and time poverty

QTU defines time poverty as “the relationship between the amount of work a teacher or school leader does and the intensity or complexity of that work”. The research frames time poverty not simply as workload in hours, but as how demanding, compressed, or overlapping work becomes.

Today, teachers are dealing with much more complex and multifaceted work. There are more tasks, more demands, and each task tends to require more thinking, planning, emotional labour, and psycho-social effort.

Full-time Australian teachers consistently report working more than the average 38-hour work week. Although there has been a small reduction in average working hours from 2019 to 2022, teachers continue to dedicate significant hours to their profession.

In 2022, full-time teachers reported working an average of almost 54 hours per week, and senior leaders working 58.6 hours a week.

On top of this, teachers must also combat complex school environments, disciplinary issues, administrative burdens, occupational violence, and student behaviour.

Demographic and systematic pressures

Australian school enrolments are consistently increasing, a trend that is largely empowered by population growth, increased retention rates amongst independent and Catholic school students, as well as data showing an increase in students staying in school until year 12.

According to a 2024 report conducted by the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA), over the past decade total enrolments have increased by almost 12 per cent, reflecting the growth of the school age population.

ABS data indicates there were over 9,600 schools across Australia in 2024, with the number of schools steadily increasing, particularly government schools.

Attrition and declining interest in the profession

Due to all these pressures, countless experienced teachers are leaving the profession, a term also known as “workforce attrition” – and fewer people are entering teaching as a career, declining the number of teaching graduates.

The Australian Education Union (ADU) has found that student drop-out rates are significantly high with only about half of students completing their degree, and approximately 20 per cent of students leaving the profession within the first three years.

Many experienced teachers are leaving before the retirement age, with 26.8 per cent moving to a non-education role, and 18.5 per cent moving to a private school, while others are taking a break from employment.

Some schools were reportedly forced to run classes without a teacher, split or merge classes, or reduce the range of specialist classes offered.

Decline in job satisfaction and unsustainable working conditions

A 2023 study asked teachers to rate how “rushed” their day felt on a 7-point scale, with the average score being 4.8, indicating a tendency towards feeling rushed in the classroom.

The survey also found that teachers had around three hours of work remaining to be done at home or on weekends, increasing the stress that teachers experience, further supporting the debilitating consequences of teacher time poverty.

In a 2024 report, QTU said, “time poverty prevents teachers from doing the things they value most. Teachers and school leaders are robbed of their job satisfaction”.

Aiding the workload

AI has transformed many workplaces, education being one of them. With the teaching crisis brewing, AI has notably balanced teachers’ workloads by automating administrative tasks, personalising learning, improving classroom management and providing teachers with data and useful insights of their students’ progress.

AI tools are seen to be especially beneficial for students with special needs such as those with disabilities or neurodivergence, enhancing their learning experiences by tailoring specialised learning tasks for their individual needs.

Administrative demands have become one of the most significant stressors for Australian teachers. The Australian Institute of Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL) reports that full-time teachers spend several hours each week completing compliance and reporting tasks – time that detracts from lesson planning and meaningful student engagement. This growing administrative load not only intensifies work pressure but also contributes to burnout and attrition, feeding directly into the ongoing teacher shortage crisis.

Mr Lawther said he regularly uses generative AI tools to assist with lesson planning and aid administrative tasks.

“It helps with supplementing pre-planned lesson outlines and aligned syllabus outcomes with creative activities for students to engage with,” he said.

Though research is scarce, educators prowl with caution to ensure teaching remains balanced to ensure it enhances teaching and learning, whilst not replacing human connection.

Despite such notable technological advances, Dr Hogan says the relational aspects of teaching will most likely remain intact and valued.

“The good thing about schools is that you are there, face-to-face, actually having engaging conversations with the teachers.

“They'll still be a really important resource to ensure that learning happens, [and] that assessment happens.”

The digital divide and unequal opportunities

In a country that prides itself on giving every child a fair go, Australia's school funding system tells a different story. While public schools educate the majority of low-income and disadvantaged students, it is private schools that continue to attract greater government support. Total government funding is consistently higher for private schools, despite them educating fewer students.

The digital divide has continued to exacerbate the economic and educational divide between the two sectors, hindering the learning experiences for school students.

This poses as a significant concern for many as the “less fortunate” students may gain less skills for the digital future.

An insight into Australia's richest schools

According to a 2019 ABC report, “Australia's four richest schools spent more on new facilities and renovations than the poorest 1,800 schools combined”. In contrast, over 1,300 low income schools spent less than $100,000 on infrastructure leading to hazardous and unfavourable learning conditions such as leaking roofs, exposed wiring, and an urgent need for updated learning technologies.

The top four most expensive schools in Australia (in order) are:

Geeolong Grammar School (VIC). $52,612 per student.
Kambala School (NSW). $51,703 per student.
Scots College (NSW). $51,258 per student.
SCEGGS (NSW). $49,936 per student.

Despite the introduction of reforms to tackle overfunding schools, some of the wealthiest schools in the country, such as Geelong Grammar School, continue to be overfunded.

If public schools are struggling to secure basic funding, how can they possibly access the technology needed to ensure students successfully thrive in the digital future?

Humanity has adapted before

Throughout history, humanity has evolved alongside major technological breakthroughs. Most notably the rise of the internet in the late 20^th century, which revolutionised global communication, and the emergence of advanced artificial intelligence and humanoid robotics in the 21^st century.

Smartphones, tablets, and laptops offer us undeniably impressive capabilities even when they fail to connect to Wi-Fi by reading existing texts and reminders, playing previously downloaded videos, ability to compose media such as high-definition images, 4K videos, and record voice memos, to listening to your favourite downloaded songs, playing games, and commanding various apps to perform certain tasks.

Mr Kovanovic said critics have historically believed emerging technologies and inventions would disadvantage society, relating it back to Ancient Greek times.

“Socrates was having the same comments about writing, saying writing will make you dumb because you are supposed to think for yourself, not write it down.

“They were talking about the oral tradition of argument and discussing.

“That’s completely ludicrous in today’s time.”

Looking forward

Initially, my view of AI was clouded by scepticism as I saw it as a force stripping creativity, offering adolescents fast answers with little depth. This investigation, however, has reframed my understanding, showing me that as history proves, humanity doesn’t resist change as we learn to grow and evolve with it.

Nevertheless, as humans continue to experiment with advanced technology, it is imperative we maintain a balanced perspective to understand both the benefits and consequences that overconsumption and over-reliance may lead to.