As we say goodbye to one year and welcome in another, we often find ourselves taking a moment to pause and reflect on our experiences, challenges and successes that have shaped the past 12 months. This transitional period allows us time to think about what we want to start, continue, or even stop doing in the year ahead. Some familiar World of Better Learning contributors have shared their own reflections on the past year and outlined their resolutions and goals for 2024. In this collection of perspectives, we hear about a range of different topics covering Artificial Intelligence, Sustainability and the importance of self-compassion.
Humans at the heart of interactions with technology
‘The one thing I take away from 2023 is that now, more than ever, we need to place humans at the heart of our interactions with technology. This has always been true but is now critical, to ensure we avoid the significant dangers artificial intelligence poses while fully realising its incredible potential. Technology should be in the service of learners and teachers, never the other way around!’
Sustainability skills and sparking conversations
‘2023 has been a great year! I’ve really enjoyed delving deeper into Sustainability skills, and a particular highlight for me was having some engaging and thought-provoking conversations about sustainability with teachers at Cambridge Days in Italy and the English UK North conference in Leeds.
This year, I’ve also been exploring Plurilingual and Pluricultural Competence, in which learners draw on their whole repertoire of linguistic and cultural resources in order to communicate. Identifying and creating valuable classroom activities and tasks to support plurilingualism has been great fun, and I hope to explore this area further in 2024!
My most rewarding teaching experience this year has been delivering one-to-one training sessions in Sweden for a team-building and coaching consultant – collaborating to share our language and skills expertise was fantastic ‘brain-food’ for both of us!
This year I’ve also been working on content to help learners develop their Employability Skills. I’m looking forward to the launch of the next Employability Skills module, Workplace Essentials, in spring of 2024, and am particularly excited about how the A2 level of this module will support people preparing to enter the world of work.’
Navigating the AI Landscape
‘For me, this year has absolutely been dominated by AI. Not only because I trained many teachers how to integrate artificial intelligence into their teaching, but also because I’m hooked on AI as well. I see it as a great opportunity to create up-to-date and personalised materials, so I tried to bring in something AI-generated to my classes all year long. But something I’ve noticed during my trainings is that there’s a huge divide between those who can find their way around AI tools and know how to bring the most out of collaborating with them and those who are not so confident in using these websites and apps.
My proudest moments this year are actually the ones when I managed to differentiate in such a way that these two completely different groups could still walk away feeling that they had accomplished something great and learned something new. Something I’d like to try next year is creating personalised learning paths for my students and trainees. Now that we’ve seen that AI is capable of creating a myriad of tasks, tests, and materials, I feel this could be an area where this new technology could make a difference in education.’
Empathy in Education
‘In 2023, I have been struck by the challenge and criticism teachers can face in their roles. With many countries in economic crisis and conflicts stirring up strong and complex emotions, teachers have been dealing with highly distressed students and families on a daily basis. Sometimes this distress erupts and is misdirected towards teachers and educational leaders in unhelpful or harmful ways. My hope for 2024 is that I can support teachers with these challenges, help them to recognise their achievements and teach them the importance of self-compassion when times are tough. Teachers all around the world are improving young people’s lives everyday, sometimes in the most difficult circumstances, and this should be recognised, supported and celebrated.’
Encouraging an excitement for learning and teaching
‘What I am most looking forward to in 2024 is to help get students excited about learning and teachers excited about teaching! After 2 years of covid and 1 year adjusting to the “new normal” I feel 2023 was the year to start getting things back on track, so that in 2024 teachers and students can go back to thriving in the classroom with even more knowledge, experience and maturity. I’m hopeful to see teachers happy and fulfilled and not overwhelmed or underappreciated, so that students are motivated and engaged in their learning every day! Wouldn’t that be something?!’
Do any of these reflections and resolutions sound familiar? Do you share similar experiences, or thoughts on 2023? Or have these encouraged you to think about new resolutions for 2024? Let us know your reflections and resolutions in the comments below!
If you’re looking for some wellbeing advice and tips for the year ahead, then take a read of ‘Wellbeing tips to kick-start the new year’