To advise young people not to go into teaching?

[Dappy777]

I have two nice, intelligent young people in my life who are considering careers in teaching. One wants to be a languages teacher (German and Spanish), the other wants to teach English as a foreign language. I don't know what advice to give them. Both are worried about AI and don't want to invest time and money only to be replaced by an advanced AI system.

I have taught English as a foreign language online, and one of my students uses an AI system to help him. His language skills have come on in leaps and bounds, to the point where I wonder why he bothers booking lessons with me at all. If AI is that good now, what will it be like in a year, let alone in five?

Depends on the type of teaching and the setting. I’d like to see AI manage behaviour in a typical secondary school.

There will always be a demand for good teachers. But yes, it can be a tough job (like so many other professions).
I wouldn't worry too mich. Let them choose a careeer they see fit for them.

But you're talking specifically about language learning. Do you think AI will replace real life teacher in every subject across the curriculum, and at every level of of school age?

Are they looking at teaching children i.e. in a school, or adults?

Either way, teaching will never be completely replaced by AI. There is so much more to it - motivation, social, and pastoral support to name a few.

I would be more worried about the appalling state of our schools and the levels of stress they would be taking on if they are thinking of teaching in state schools.

We need good teachers though, more than ever, so if they are passionate and determined then it is a career in which they could really make a difference.

And teaching EFL is of course transferable over the world and can be a great thing to do in terms of travel opportunities etc.

That is quite an extrapolation you have made there @Dappy777 . Leave these “two nice, intelligent” people to make up their own minds before spouting your careers advice at them.

And you are a teacher?

The chief problem is how awful schools have become. We need to undo the last decade or so of poor decision making for education.

I was involved in a discussion about the potential impacts of AI yesterday with a group which included a teacher. He reckoned that AI will be a very useful tool for teachers, appropriately used, but that it won’t replace humans and that it would be one of the more resilient professions.
Language teaching specifically perhaps not so much though.

AI will never replace teachers, especially in the younger age groups. AI cannot give a 5 year old a hug when they fall over, coax a shy child into performing in the school play, break up a fight between 2 angry 10 year olds, notice when a child goes super quiet and needs support and maybe safeguarding. Teaching is about so much more than sharing factual knowledge.

I do worry about the stress, behaviour, pressure on teachers though. My oldest wants to be a teacher in primary (infants in particular) and would be amazing at it, she is naturally very good with children, bright, loads of energy. And I won't put her off, but I have suggested to her to get a job as an LSA first, so she can experience a bit of what it would be like.

Face to face teaching will always have a place. It's not AI that's the problem but the workload and stress in schools

AI is unlikely to replace teachers imo. Children (inc teenagers) need people to take care of them, look out for them, be with them and build relationships with them. Parents also need schools (as is so often mentioned on mumsnet) and schools must be staffed.

Personally I think teaching is the best job in the world, despite its many difficulties - I love it. I wouldn’t discourage young people in my life from being teachers. It can be a wonderfully rewarding job (and the holidays are great 😉)

I’ve used AI to aid language learning. I watch a lot of videos and do a lot of reading to improve my reading and listening, but to practice writing I have found chatgpt is very good. It corrects all my grammar errors, explains the grammatical rules very well, and can set exercises to test my understanding. It does have a tendency to prefer playing therapist to language teacher though, it keeps steering the conversation towards me and how I feel, and I have to keep reminding it to focus on the quality of my text, not on me.

So yeah, I can see how AI will be used in education going forwards. It can be a useful tool. Teachers will still be required though, even if a lot of learning resources are produced via AI. Someone needs to physically be there to supervise the children while their parents are working, and AI can’t do that.

I dont think foreign languages are a particularly good area to go into. As you say, technology is reducing the need for these skills. There will be fewer jobs in this area.

Face to face teaching i do think will continue & be highly sought after, but other subjects will be a better bet.

I think teaching is likely to be a profession that is relatively safe from AI so YABU for discouraging them for that reason.

I really think schools will move to a part time timetable coupled with online learning.
There are already companies with a whole curriculum that can be done online and the next steps are differentiated lessons depending on how kids get on in the assessment sections. A complete tailored programme for every child at primary level. Not sure about secondary, but it won’t be far off I’m sure.

YABU. What would you have them do instead?

Does AI teach soft skills ?

Punctuality

Politeness

Listening

Being part of a team

Taking part

Etc

How long have you been teaching for @Dappy777 ?

AI will put a lot more translators than teachers out of work. But also efl tends to be a short course rather than a multi year degree, so if they need to change jobs, it wouldn't have such a big time cost.

Also, I hate duolingo!

There's a lot more to teaching than plonking a kid in front of a laptop and letting them access a learning programme however individualised it is.( That's assuming your school can afford individual laptops)
The fact is that kids get bored with IT based activities of they have to do them all day and everyday.
Some kids just want to talk to their mates. Other kids will just want to try and hack / misuse the AI because they can.
There will definitely be teaching roles for humans into the future. AI can't do classroom management. AI can't deal with unpredictable behaviour. AI might b able to tell if a kid is taking the piss, but won't be able to deal with it effectively.
Teaching is about managing, motivating and training large numbers of individuals, even if they don't want to engage.
Computer programs can't do that.
Young people considering teaching need to recognise that this is the reality of going into teaching rather than imparting their subject knowledge to a greatful youth.

If that's what you go for. I know someone doing a pgce and they have zero intentions of working in a UK state school. This is the 2nd person I know gone this. The first went straight to a private boarding school then taught in China and Malaysia

Yes, I think wanting to teach is a real urge for some. But wanting to teach in Uk schools is not a real urge for anyone.

You have just qualified @Dappy777 and you are worried about the longevity of your chosen career. Dont be. At least not for a few years yet. Although languages are very vulnerable, yes

YABU to discourage them if they are keen. It’s not badly paid if they start young. It’s never boring & can be fun at times.

I have just done my 25th year & still enjoy being with young people. Workload is an issue but I see the longer hols as time off in lieu.

Learning a language isn’t just about translating what is on a piece of paper. It’s cultural capital & opens up many doors to understanding how the world works & learning how to understand cultural nuances. AI can’t really teach people about how people from other countries operate.

Amazing isn't it, you always get one horrible reply no matter what your question. 🙄