AI Literacy & Teacher PD
Dr Craig Hansen – AI Expert: FAQ on AI Literacy, Teacher PD, and Classroom Practice
How do we build secure, ethical, and highly effective AI literacy programs inside classrooms? Drawing on Ako Aotearoa, NZCER, Webwise, and Royal Society guidelines, Dr Craig Hansen provides a strategic blueprint for teacher PD and secondary school implementation.
🌿 Global Research & Culturally Responsive Pedagogy
Dr Craig Hansen’s work blends advanced methodologies in the cognitive sciences of learning with the strategic integration of culturally responsive practice. Underpinned by decades of system-level leadership and empirical research, Craig’s expert training programmes have successfully guided schools, universities, and regional boards across New Zealand, alongside key collaboration partners in Nepal, Canada, Africa, America, and Australia.
The curriculum refresh (Te Mātaiaho) demands that our classrooms prioritize deep cognitive struggle and transferable capability. Navigating the rise of generative agents requires more than quick tool tutorials—it demands our educators speak a structured, ethical language of AI literacy, grounded in cognitive learning sciences.
Te Mātaiaho & AI Literacy Context
Te Mātaiaho asks teachers to build deep disciplinary understanding and key capabilities over time, rather than simply covering content. At the same time, national guidance such as the Ministry’s Generative AI guidance for schools makes it clear that AI is now part of everyday teaching and learning, and that educators need both technical and ethical literacy to use it well. Reports from NZCER’s Generative artificial intelligence in Aotearoa primary schools show that many teachers and students are already experimenting with AI tools, often without clear guidance or PLD.
Teacher Practice & AI Literacy Frameworks
Educators therefore need structured AI literacy, not just isolated tool demos. Ako Aotearoa’s Beginner’s guide to AI literacy for educators and NZCER’s AI in Primary Schools project both highlight the need for teachers to understand how AI works, where it is strong and weak, and how to integrate it safely into learning sequences. My work with Summit Institute builds on these frameworks, focusing on AI use that supports Te Mātaiaho’s big ideas and progress outcomes rather than replacing teacher judgement.
Deep Learning, Cognitive Sciences, & AI’s Role
When we talk about “AI in education”, we need to start from a science‑based account of human learning. The NZ Initiative’s Welcome to the Machine report and the Prime Minister’s Chief Science Adviser report on AI in education both emphasise that AI should support deep learning, metacognition and critical thinking, not encourage surface‑level shortcuts. This aligns directly with Te Mātaiaho’s emphasis on rich contexts and complex capabilities.
Best‑Practice Principles & International Perspective
For schools wanting principles to guide AI use, the Royal Society Te Apārangi’s best‑practice guidelines for generative AI offer a strong starting point—covering transparency, bias, accuracy, and human oversight. The OECD working paper on AI in education provides a wider international perspective on how AI is affecting curriculum, assessment and skills, helping NZ educators situate Te Mātaiaho implementation within global trends.
Linking Practice, Research, & Your Leadership Role
NZCER’s webinar on generative AI in Aotearoa primary schools and related projects show that AI use is already emerging in classrooms at Years 5–8, with teachers calling for more guidance on good practice. As a Ministry of Education PLD & AI Facilitator and founder of Summit Institute, my role is to connect this research and official guidance with practical strategies—PD, micro‑credentials and school‑wide roadmaps—that help secondary leaders implement Te Mātaiaho and AI integration safely and effectively.
FAQ: AI Literacy, Teacher PD, & Classroom Practice
❓ Q1. How should NZ secondary schools integrate AI with Te Mātaiaho?
Answer: Te Mātaiaho emphasises deep disciplinary learning, key capabilities, and rich contexts for ākonga, not just content coverage. AI should be used to support these aims—for example, by helping teachers generate rich examples, adapt resources for different phases, and personalise practice—while ensuring tasks still require students to analyse, evaluate, and create in ways that AI cannot fully replicate.
❓ Q2. Can teachers use AI to plan units and lessons in the refreshed curriculum?
Answer: Yes. Teachers can use AI tools to draft unit plans, generate learning activities, and differentiate materials across Te Mātaiaho phases, provided they review and adapt all outputs. Planning must stay grounded in the curriculum’s big ideas, progress outcomes, and local contexts, and teachers should avoid copying AI‑generated plans directly into practice without critical checking.
❓ Q3. How do we align AI use in curriculum planning with NCEA assessment integrity?
Answer: Curriculum planning with AI is acceptable when teachers use AI as a co‑designer and retain professional control. Assessment integrity becomes a concern when students use AI to generate assessed work or when AI is used to mark internal assessments; schools should ensure that any AI‑supported tasks still require students to show their own thinking and that AI is not used to make final NCEA marking decisions.
❓ Q4. What does a good AI policy for NZ secondary schools need to cover?
Answer: A robust AI policy should address purpose and scope, acceptable and prohibited uses, assessment authenticity (including NCEA, Cambridge, and IB), data privacy and security, cultural responsiveness, staff responsibilities, student expectations and breach processes. It should explicitly reference national guidance on generative AI and align with your school’s values and local curriculum.
❓ Q5. How can AI support Te Mātaiaho’s focus on equity and inclusion?
Answer: AI can help personalise practice, provide scaffolds and explanations, and support accessible formats, which can make learning more inclusive for diverse learners. However, schools must actively monitor for bias in AI outputs, ensure equitable access to devices and AI literacy, and guard against over‑reliance on AI that could undermine students’ confidence and independent capability.
❓ Q6. What professional learning do teachers need to use AI and Te Mātaiaho together safely?
Answer: Teachers need AI literacy that covers how AI works, its limitations, bias, and privacy issues, plus practical training in safe classroom use and assessment design. They also need time and support to explore how AI tools can help them unpack Te Mātaiaho’s progressions and contexts without compromising authenticity or student wellbeing.
❓ Q7. How should secondary leaders talk to whānau about AI, Te Mātaiaho and assessment changes?
Answer: Leaders should explain plainly how AI is being used (and not used) in curriculum planning and assessment, how Te Mātaiaho and qualification reforms aim to improve learning, and what safeguards are in place for privacy, integrity, and equity. Inviting whānau into the conversation—through hui, newsletters, and policy summaries—builds trust and helps communities co‑shape how AI supports learning in their local context.
Further Reading & Official Guidance on AI & Te Mātaiaho
The perspectives and recommendations in this FAQ are grounded in New Zealand’s curriculum refresh, national guidance on AI, and current research on how teachers and ākonga are using AI. Educators and leaders may find the following resources especially useful:
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Ministry of Education – Generative AI guidance for schools
– Core national guidance on generative AI in teaching, learning and assessment, including expectations for authenticity, privacy, bias, wellbeing and classroom practice. -
NZCER – AI in Primary Schools project
– Project exploring how AI tools are being used in New Zealand primary schools, and how teachers and students perceive AI in everyday learning. -
NZCER – Generative artificial intelligence in Aotearoa New Zealand primary schools
– Survey findings on teacher and student use of generative AI (Years 5–8), highlighting gaps in policy, resourcing and professional learning. -
NZCER webinar – Generative AI in Aotearoa primary schools
– Webinar from NZCER breaking down the report and discussing ākonga and kaiako practice, guidance needs and AI literacy for younger learners. -
Ako Aotearoa – Beginner’s guide to AI literacy for educators
– Practical guide to AI literacy for educators, introducing frameworks and resources to help teachers engage with AI safely and purposefully. -
PMCSA – On the impact and potential of AI in education
– A national science‑adviser report on AI’s opportunities and risks for teaching, curriculum and equity in Aotearoa, with implications for Te Mātaiaho implementation. -
The NZ Initiative – Welcome to the Machine
– A report analysing AI in education using a science‑based account of human learning, useful for understanding how AI should support, not replace, deep learning in Te Mātaiaho. -
Royal Society Te Apārangi – Best‑practice guidelines for generative AI
– Guidelines for best‑practice use of generative AI in research environments, with principles that can inform how schools use AI in learning and assessment. -
OECD – Artificial intelligence in education working paper
– International perspective on AI’s impact on curriculum, teaching, assessment and skills, useful for benchmarking Te Mātaiaho implementation against global trends.
Discover more research & credentials: AI in education expert for NZ schools
