ts of new tools and bold predictions, swinging from utopian visions of personalized learning to dystopian fears of teacher redundancy. It can be difficult to find a signal in the noise. A a new white paper by Tom Chatfield, “AI and the Future of Pedagogy,” is a welcome intervention. It cuts through the hype and grounds the conversation not on the technology itself, but on the principles of how humans learn.

For those of us in vocational education and training (VET) across Europe who are exploring and implementing these new technologies, the paper offers a critical and reflective lens. It challenges a move beyond simply adopting AI tools and instead consider show they can genuinely enhance our pedagogy and, most importantly, redefine and elevate the role of teachers and trainers.

The Process is the Purpose

Chatfield’s core argument is a reminder: that “to automate learning is to subvert learning.” The point of an apprentice writing a report or a student conducting an experiment is not the final product, but the process of acquiring knowledge, developing critical thinking, and honing skills. When we look at AI through this lens, the conversation shifts from efficiency and automation to a much richer set of questions about how we can use these tools to deepen the learning process itself.

The paper points out the danger of AI’s power to “hollow out the very skills required to navigate an AI age successfully.” If students can generate a flawless essay without understanding the underlying concepts, they are not learning; they are simulating knowledge. For the VET sector, where the link between learning and practical application is central, this is a critical risk. We are not preparing learners for a multiple-choice test, but for a complex and ever-changing world of work where domain expertise and analytical reasoning are indispensable.

The Teacher as Designer, Facilitator, and Interpreter

So, if AI is not here to replace teachers, what is its role? The paper suggests a fundamental shift in the educator’s function. Instead of being the primary source of information, the teacher of the future becomes a designer of learning experiences, a facilitator of critical inquiry, and a critical interpreter of technology’s role in their specific field.

Advocating such a change in role of vocational teachers and trainers is not new. Moving from “sage on the stage” to “guide on the side,” has long been discussed in debates over technology enhanced learning But it This could include:

• Designing Learning Environments: This means creating learning environments where AI tools are used not as a crutch, but as a catalyst for deeper thinking. For example, using an AI to generate initial ideas for a project, which students must then critique, validate, and build upon using their own research and practical skills. It also means designing tasks that are inherently resistant to simple automation, focusing on complex problem-solving, collaboration, and hands-on application.
• Facilitating Critical Dialogue: An AI can be a tireless explainer or a patient interlocutor, but it cannot replicate the authentic, social, and often messy process of human sense-making. The teacher’s role becomes more focused on facilitating the conversations that AI cannot have: challenging assumptions, encouraging debate, and connecting learning to the lived experiences and future careers of students. It is in these dialogues that true understanding is forged.
• Interpreting the Black Box: Teachers must become the domain experts in how AI supports learning in their specific field. A carpentry instructor is best placed to evaluate whether an AI-driven design tool is a useful aid or a misleading shortcut. A healthcare trainer needs to guide students on the ethical use of AI diagnostic tools, understanding their limitations and biases. This requires not just technological literacy, but a deep pedagogical and subject-matter expertise.

Raising the Cognitive Bar

The paper proposes that AI, used wisely, can help us “raise the cognitive bar.” By automating some of the more routine aspects of learning, we can free up time and cognitive space for more complex and creative tasks. An AI can provide instant feedback on foundational knowledge, allowing the teacher to focus on mentoring students through more challenging, project-based work.

Ultimately, the challenge from AI in the VET sector is translational and contextual. It’s about taking these new tools and embedding them within a robust, human-centric pedagogy. It means upholding the values of critical thinking, collaboration, and lifelong learning, and ensuring that technology serves these values, not the other way around.

The future of pedagogy in an AI age will not be determined by the technology developers in Silicon Valley. It will be shaped by the educators in workshops, classrooms, and training centres. The task to become the designers, facilitators, and critical interpreters who can guide our learners not just in how to use AI, but in how to think, learn, and thrive alongside it.

About the Image

Bold Office depicts the integration of digital technologies like AI into the workplaces. The presence of data points and floating clouds symbolises how data about individuals and their work is increasingly shared, processed, and connected. The image was drawn and painted using gauche and pencil. This image was selected as a winner in the Digital Dialogues Art Competition, which was run in partnership with the ESRC Centre for Digital Futures at Work Research Centre (Digit) and supported by the UKRI ESRC.