Cognitive Justice in the Age of AI with Zaretta Hammond

Zaretta Hammond (0:00)

The idea of Cognitive Justice is, how do we leverage the science of learning, and now AI and EdTech tools, to help them rebuild that, not because they're not smart, but because when they come to school, they're swimming up a stream that is designed to keep them kind of stuck in a pedagogy of compliance.

Pete Siner (0:28)

Good morning, Zaretta. How are you?

Zaretta Hammond (0:30)

I am very good. Thank you.

Pete Siner (0:33)

Thank you so much for joining us. You have been such a major voice in education, and I think you'd be hard pressed to go into any teacher staff room without finding some of your work or in the rotation of PD and PLCs. But in your work, you talk a lot about the neuroscience, about culturally responsive teaching. How do you think educators in this time can leverage that same understanding of neuroscience and the brain to ensure that AI tools are actually enhancing learning rather than just creating shortcuts?

Zaretta Hammond (1:11)

Well, I think that it's a really good question because I think that we are at the first generation of using AI and using EdTech tools in the classroom. And most of those are about time-saving, like help the teacher do lesson planning, feed that into the ChatGPT, or have generative AI and Jim and I come do that for you. So there are so many ways in which we are just doing, I won't say low level, but I'll say first generation. This is just how to free up time or make teachers job easier.

The thing I think is missing from that conversation is, well, what do we do with that new found time? So this is where we have to rethink, how do we help teachers actually be the personal trainer of students' cognitive development? Because the reality is the AI tool you have, the EdTech tool you have is not going to do that. So it has to allow you to be freer because that learning is still going to be a human interaction. The most we can do is then leverage it if we understand the principles of instruction and the science of learning is, how do we help the students improve their information processing systems and move through that cycle? What does productive struggle look like with AI support? We see it in literacy for a long time. ELA has used some type of generative technology to help, but we also then have seen the limits of that, because we still have a serious literacy crisis.

Pete Siner (3:02)

Right, absolutely.

Zaretta Hammond (3:02)

And yeah, the reality is, we need to be able to do something in order to turn the corner on just using the tools. The tools themselves aren't magic. It is really how we start to use them. So the more we understand about how the brain learns, and I think the emerging learning sciences, right? There's a lot of interesting stuff coming out of the UK right now, where they're having a different conversation, Australia as well. So I try to kind of stay tapped into some of that, because what we're talking about are not just brain-based strategies. That's what I hear kind of on the ground when I go into schools. Oh, we're doing brain breaks, and we're doing brain-based strategies. And I'm like, as opposed to what? The kidney-based strategy? Talking back. And so again, there is still a long way to go to level up teachers' understanding of what it means to use the science of learning and being able to really understand how to support students to be more powerful learners.

Yeah, I'll stop there. So much to say, but I want to just kind of pause and let you all get it.

Stephanie Dinnen (4:25)

I think when I do a lot of work in the social-emotional learning space, and your work is so deeply embedded in those conversations. And when I speak with educators about it, I love seeing that lightbulb moment, that aha moment, particularly around your concept of care and push. And I think for a lot of educators, they get stuck on either care or push. And so it is, as simple as it sounds, it's very revelatory for a lot of them to consider that culturally responsive practice, social-emotional wellness in school, right, for the purpose of academic and holistic well-being is not just care. It's not just push, it's care and push. And I am sort of wondering your thoughts. Sometimes Pete and I reference AI as like the third brain now in the classroom. And can, can AI, where does AI fit into care and push?

Zaretta Hammond (5:36)

Yeah, I think that's a good one, because what I suspect, and this is what I see is, we want to not make it the third brain. We want it to make it the primary brain.