Cultivating a Convivial Classroom
How the Technological Critics of the 20th Century Can Help Us Wisely Navigate Generative AI in Education
On Wednesday, September 10, Dr. Josh Brake, Associate Professor of Engineering at Harvey Mudd College, discussed his approach to understanding the influence of generative AI on teaching and learning, and how educators can utilize this opportunity to create classrooms that foster human connection, creativity, and growth.
In his opening remarks, Brake acknowledged the disruptions higher education has experienced in recent years. On the heels of the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced instructors to adopt virtual classrooms with little time to prepare, came the release of ChatGPT in November 2022, prompting heated debates across academia over the role AI should play in education. Some said AI would bring a “new utopia” for personalized learning for all, while others expressed fear that AI was an existential threat to the academy as a whole. Brake suggested that instead of rushing to conclusions, we need to ask more thoughtful questions. He invited the audience to consider the lessons drawn from prominent critics of technology from over 50 years before the advent of generative AI. Brake argued that the stakes involved in and the challenges of how we are shaped by and ought to shape mass technology have not really changed.
Brake begins by asking: What is the purpose of education? He argues that this is the fundamental question we should be asking. If the purpose of education is to prepare students for employment, then historian Yuval Noah Harari’s claim that “nobody knows what to teach that will be relevant in 20 years” may be correct.1 However, based upon Brake’s experience in classrooms and his reading of history, he believes that education’s purpose ought to be tied more to what it means to be human. While AI may reshape methods for completing tasks and create more efficiency in some areas, it cannot replace the relational and creative aspects of learning, which require a human mind to have human value. To this point, Brake presented the questions and ideas of critics who reflected on the disruptive technologies that emerged in their own era as a lens to frame the discussion about generative AI today.
Five Lessons from the Technological Critics of The 20th Century
- Ursula Franklin: How are our tools reshaping the way that we do our work?
- Jacques Ellul: How have the means become the ends?
- Ivan Illich: Are our machines working for us, or are we working for our machines?
- Marshal McLuhan: How are the tools we use reshaping the way that we see the world around us?
- C. S. Lewis: In our fervor to create ever more powerful tools, are we augmenting ourselves to death?
Ursula Franklin, in The Real World of Technology, warned that over-reliance on prescriptive tools that break down a process into basic steps for the sake of efficiency can reduce creativity and control. Likewise, Jacques Ellul, in The Technological Society, cautioned against focusing too much on the efficiency of ‘means’ in favor of the ‘end,’ i.e., the original goal of the process. Ivan Illich in Tools for Conviviality argued that tools should empower people, not control them. He cautioned against becoming dependent on machines that do the work for us. Marshall McLuhan, in Understanding Media, said that the technology we use reshapes our perception of the world. It brings new things, but it always takes something from us, too, which requires a new equilibrium. While C.S. Lewis wasn’t writing specifically about technology in The Abolition of Man, Brake contends that what he writes is relevant here: “You can hardly open a periodical without coming across the statement that what our civilization needs is more ‘drive’, or dynamism, or self-sacrifice, or ‘creativity’. In a sort of ghastly simplicity, we remove the organ and demand the function. We make men without chests and expect of them virtue and enterprise. We laugh at honour and are shocked to find traitors in our midst. We castrate and bid the geldings be fruitful.” Meaning that technology can sometimes remove the very qualities we need to use it wisely, and then we are shocked when we’ve lost those capacities
A Convivial Classroom
How does all of this relate to generative AI’s influence on teaching and learning? Borrowing from Illich, Brake proposes that we should strive toward a ‘convivial’ classroom, “one in which the tools, structures, and relationships are oriented toward human flourishing, mutual learning, and creativity, rather than control, efficiency, or a one-way transmission of knowledge.” while acknowledging that he does not have any iron clad solutions for educators, he did provide five ‘practical provocations’ to think about
- A classroom is a community. Find ways to not only strengthen relationships with students but also between students in your classroom.
- Grades are feedback, not a credential. Focus on iterative learning and the importance of the process, allowing students to fail and try again.
- Teachers are guides. Don’t feel obligated to cover particular material at all costs. Allow space for curiosity to develop.
- Education is about formation, not information. Help students grow by having high expectations and providing high support. Learning is more than transmitting information.
- Help students to be their best selves. Create environments that help students resist the temptation to overuse AI tools for shortcuts. All innovations have trade-offs; be transparent with your students about what they may gain from using generative AI and what they may lose.
- Excerpted from The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. (2024, March 5). How AI Will Shape Humanity’s Future – Yuval Noah Harari [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2w37ty9gGU8 ↩︎
Resources
Presentation Slides
The Absent-Minded Professor
www.joshbrake.com
References (from presentation)
Clark, D., Talbert, R., & Nilson, L. B. (2023). Grading for growth: A guide to alternative grading practices that promote authentic learning and student engagement in Higher Education. Routledge.
Ellul, J. (2021). The technological society. Vintage
Franklin, U. M. (1999). The real world of technology. House of Anansi Press.
Illich, I. (2001). Tools for conviviality. Marion Boyars.
Lewis, C. S. (2015). The abolition of man. HarperOne.
McLuhan, M. (2013). Understanding media: The extensions of man (Critical). Gingko Press.
Stanier, M.B. (2016). The coaching habit: say less, ask more & change the way you lead forever. Page Two.
Yeager, D. (2024). 10 to 25: The science of motivating young people: a groundbreaking approach to leading the next generation―and making your own life easier. Avid Reader Press / Simon & Schuster