As strategic work related to AI with Intention begins, it is important to establish the underlying premises for the committee’s work and articulate a charge to the committee. Examples of these, along with the Guiding Principles for AI with Intention, are articulated below.
ContextPremise
- AI tools differ from technologies addressed in legacy school policy and practice.
- AI tools can plan and accomplish nearly any academic task done digitally.
- AI tools can support or undermine effective teaching and learning, depending on how they are used.
- AI tools make errors, are biased, and are not omniscient. They require human insight and oversight.
- Human interaction is essential for a child’s learning, development, and well-being.
- Once students are old enough to navigate the internet independently, they will encounter AI tools. Educators have the skills & expertise to teach students how to use these tools safely, effectively, and appropriately.
- Ensuring AI tools are used in ways that support effective teaching is less about acquiring technical deterrents and more about curriculum design, quality instruction, fidelity to learning, and relational trust.
Foundational CommitmentsThe Committee’s Charge
- The purpose of the committee is to articulate clear, consistent guidelines and boundaries to support safe, effective, and appropriate uses of AI tools and to minimize inappropriate and potentially harmful uses for staff, teachers, and students. Then, schools need to align policies, professional learning, and students’ learning to those identified guidelines and boundaries.
- The committee’s work should build capacity to fulfill the school’s or district’s mission and vision.
- The committee’s purpose is not simply to decide what AI tools to purchase or block — transactional solutions alone almost always fail to address the complexity of a transformational challenge.
- Schools are responsible to ensure compliance with privacy, safety, data security, and open-records statutes. Addressing these issues is urgent. However, these actions are separate from important decisions related to effective use of AI tools.
- The committee must weigh both the opportunities and costs of AI tools as related to efficiency, effectiveness, and automation of skills and strategies related to teaching & learning.
Guiding Principles & Strategic Choices
From AI with Intention: Principles and Action Steps for Teachers and School Leaders — Tony Frontier (2025)
For School Leaders
Lead by LearningLearning Organization vs. Reactive Organization
Take a Transformational ApproachTransformational Leadership vs. Transactional Leadership
Emphasize IntegrityHumanism vs. Behaviorism
Fidelity Before EfficiencyEffectiveness vs. Efficiency / Automaticity
For Teachers
Stand in Their ShoesEmpathetic Design vs. Non-Empathetic Design
Know Your PurposeLearning vs. Compliance / Task Completion
Prompt AI Tools IntentionallyAligned & Intentional Teaching vs. Clutter
Use AI for Intentional LearningAgency & Independence vs. Dependence & Passivity
Core TensionAI tools are designed to process information quickly and eliminate struggle. Effective learning requires the opposite — time, strategy, and productive struggle. Intentional implementation helps address this tension by emphasizing principles of effective teaching and learning rather than the bells & whistles of the tools themselves. To learn more about these guiding principles, see AI with Intention: Principles and Action Steps for Teachers and School Leaders, 2025, © ASCD
