Teachers

From AI literacy to AI fluency: Ten shifts for educators

For educators, using AI well isn't only about developing AI literacy: knowing how to use AI effectively, ethically and responsibly. It's about curiosity, critical awareness and weaving AI into planning, assessment and collaboration, while keeping learners, language and cultural contexts at the centre of what we do!

This article sets out ten shifts to consider as we move from simply knowing about AI to becoming fluent in how it can support teaching and learning.

1. Think of AI as a colleague rather than a tool

Calling AI a tool suggests it's passive, like a hammer or calculator. But AI interacts with us differently, shaping how we think, frame problems and make decisions.

It's less about simple execution of tasks and more about influence on how we execute them.

Example: Instead of asking AI to 'write a lesson plan,' you might work with it to generate alternatives for different learner contexts or highlight potential cultural sensitives.

2. Use AI to pose thoughtful questions, not just find answers

AI's value isn't only in providing quick answers but is in helping us ask ourselves better questions.

It can test our assumptions, reveal blind spots, and suggest questions we might ask ourselves to deepen our reflection. In this way, AI becomes less of an answer machine and more of a partner in inquiry.

Example: 'My students struggle with group work. I’ve tried mixing ability levels and setting clear roles. What blind spots might I have, what alternative approaches could I try, and what questions should I be asking myself to better understand why learners disengage?

3. Look beyond tasks to re-imagining workflows

AI is useful for drafting emails or creating texts, but its real power is in rethinking planning processes, creative assessment and adaptation to learners' needs.

Used this way, it provides insights helping you align tasks with outcomes and see new pathways.

Example: Instead of creating individual resources as you go, you could redesign your whole planning process by asking AI to map out a unit sequence, suggest assessment formats with rubrics, and highlight ways to adapt tasks across CEFR levels.

4. Build practical awareness of how AI works

A few key concepts go a long way: context window (how much AI can 'remember'), hallucination (confident but inaccurate information), bias (patterns in the data), and fine-tuning (training on specific examples).

Understanding these helps us use AI critically and guide learners responsibly.

Example: AI might produce a convincing fact that turns out to be inaccurate (a hallucination). Recognising this risk encourages us to check sources and teach learners not to accept outputs uncritically.

5. Be proactive, not just reactive

AI isn't only for emergencies. Woven into routines, it can provide a steady stream of ideas, perspectives and resources.

This means moving from reactive use to incorporating AI into your professional practice.

Example: Rather than scrambling for discussion topics, you might ask AI each week to scan current events (according to students’ interests and contexts), suggest texts suitable for your learners’ level and highlight how the same theme could be presented for your different learners.

6. Focus on framing, not just promoting

Clever prompts are entry-level. The deeper skill is framing problems clearly so AI can help you explore them in useful ways.

That means stating your goals, outlining the real context you are working in and asking AI for feedback on your approach.

The more concrete you are, the more valuable the response – and the less risk of vague or biased suggestions.

Example: Instead of 'Give me a business English activity,' try: 'I want to design an activity that builds negotiation skills for a B1 learner in my class who struggles with turn-taking in group tasks. Here’s my draft idea…what blind spots might I be missing, and how could I adapt it to support this specific learner while keeping the activity engaging for the rest of the group?'

7. Assemble your personal AI repertoire

No single AI does it all. A small, complementary set makes AI genuinely useful.

Different platforms shine in lesson design, research, resource creation, or professional development.

Example: You might use ChatGPT or Claude for drafting lessons, Perplexity or Consensus for research overviews, NotebookLM for professional development, and NapkinAI for building slides.

8. See AI as an augmentation, not a replacement

This shift is in how we think about AI's place in education. It is not a rival to teachers but a partner that supports planning, reimagines assessment and sparks new ideas.

Our expertise is grounded in empathy and awareness of our learners' diverse needs, interested and behaviours and remains central.

Example: Rather than fearing AI will take over lesson design, we can view it as a way to illuminate new pathways, challenge our assumptions, and strengthen the human elements of teaching and learning.

9. Use AI socially, not just solo

AI isn't only a private assistant. Used collaboratively, it can spark dialogue, creativity and collective decision-making among teachers and learners.

Example: In a planning meeting, a group of teachers could use AI to generate different approaches to a new syllabus, then debate which best fits their learners’ needs and contexts.

10. Encourage trust, responsibility and what makes us human

Fluency with AI isn't about blind trust, but about recognising its limits and balancing them with our uniquely human qualities. AI can generate ideas and analyse patterns, but it does not feel empathy, exercise moral judgement, act on intuition, or possess self-awareness. These are the qualities we bring as teachers. By understanding ourselves better, we also see more clearly what AI can and cannot do.

The goal is not to choose between human and artificial intelligence, but to blend them, letting AI extend our reach while grounding our work in the traits only humans offer.

Example: If students use AI to explore a theme, you might guide them to compare its outputs with other sources, then reflect on where human empathy, intuition, or moral judgement are essential in interpreting the topic.

Final thoughts

Mina Patel

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In this article we explore the role of teacher beliefs and values on teaching practices. Mina Patel is a researcher at British Council and co-author of the landmark publication The Future of...

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