Foundational Impact

Stop buying tools before you’ve answered this

Our guest in this episode is Dr Fiona Aubrey-Smith, an independent researcher who studies the relationship between pedagogy and digital tools, and the lived experience of students in the classroom. Fiona opens by explaining why identical classroom practices can produce completely different outcomes depending on the belief system behind them. Her example of two teachers greeting students at the classroom door in seemingly the same way, but for very different underlying reasons, shows how policies alone don't determine impact; the intent behind them does. The conversation moves into belonging and dignity, including research showing that struggling students typically ask for help only 1-3 times in a lesson regardless of how much support they need, while confident students almost never ask to be pushed further. Daniel and Fiona discuss the tension between protecting a student's dignity and the value of productive vulnerability. From there, Fiona lays out her framework for introducing technology into schools: start with the purpose of school, define the role of the learner, describe what the learning experience should feel like, define the role of the teacher, and only then decide which tools will help deliver it. Starting with the tool itself, before asking why, is a costly and common mistake. Two school case studies illustrate this in practice. At Haileybury, an embedded one-to-one, on-demand digital provision (available at the point of need rather than simply issued to every student) has freed teachers to rethink classroom layout entirely. At Connect Education Trust, a similar model has extended digital skills and connectivity into the home, empowering families to support learning without needing their own digital capability, coinciding with outstanding inspection outcomes. On generative AI, Fiona shares some thoughtful use cases she sees, such as chaining AI tools to help secondary students revise, and using AI image generation to help primary students with their descriptive writing. She wraps up with a challenge for school leaders. Rather than starting with policies or tools, ask what your school would leave behind if it closed tomorrow, since that gap is where the real human value lies. From there, let AI and digital tools take on the automation and acceleration, so teachers are freed up for the parts of the job only a human can do.

Are Young People Forming Relationships with AI?

What does AI mean for the way young people relate to each other and to technology itself? That's the focus of the conversation in this episode when Daniel speaks with Jonathan Baggaley, CEO of the PSHE Association and former head of the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre. It begins, perhaps unexpectedly, with a Sun Ra poster. Jono uses it to make a point that runs through everything that follows. That is, many of the narratives about AI are being presented as inevitable, and educators have both the right and the responsibility to push back on that. PSHE has been on a long road to statutory recognition in England. Jono maps that journey from the near-miss of the 2010 election wash-up to the introduction of compulsory Relationships, Sex and Health Education in 2019. The results are becoming visible. Between 2022 and last year, the share of young people rating their RSE as good or very good roughly doubled. Yet the subject now faces a technology landscape that changes faster than any curriculum can follow, and it was never designed for that. Much of the conversation focuses on something schools have been slow to address, which is the emotional attachment to AI chatbots. Evidence from a Reddit study found that 60–70% of people who had developed an AI relationship hadn't gone looking for one. They'd simply been chatting. Jono explains this isn't surprising as humans are neurologically primed to anthropomorphise from infancy, attributing intention and agency to moving shapes before they can speak. Even Jono, who understands exactly what large language models are, has caught himself feeling the presence of something in a chatbot conversation. The question is how schools can build resilience to that instinct by giving young people the understanding they need to use them critically. Language, Jono argues, is part of the problem. The word "chatbot" suggests conversation, when what's actually happening is an engagement with a probabilistic automation system. Shifting that framing is one starting point. Another is cross-curricular. Computing can explain the move from rule-based to data-driven AI, citizenship can explore the environmental and geopolitical implications, and PSHE can build on its existing relationships curriculum to examine what young people are and aren't getting from these interactions. The episode sits with a harder question too. Consumer AI is designed for frictionless ease, age verification is often a checkbox, and young people will encounter these tools whether schools introduce them or not. But Jono is clear-eyed about what the evidence shows. When young people genuinely understand what they're dealing with and what they're trading away, they are willing to increase their own friction. None of this requires a new policy or a perfect tool. The conversation is the intervention, and any curriculum that starts with the human already has what it needs.

Education on the Front Line

What does great education look like when the classroom is a refugee camp? When the teacher is under-resourced, under-supported, and still showing up? We are delighted to welcome Jane Mann, Managing Director of the Partnership for Education and Education Director for International Education at Cambridge University Press and Assessment. Jane leads work spanning 30 countries, including some of the world's most fragile and complex contexts, from refugee camps to conflict zones. And while no two contexts are ever quite the same, she is clear that the fundamentals of great education do not change. Wherever you are in the world, the foundations look the same: a coherent curriculum, meaningful assessment, well-supported teachers, strong leadership, and quality materials. In conversation with Daniel, Jane reflects on the role of technology and the importance of letting context lead. Where it is available and appropriate, technology can be transformative. But it carries real risks too: widening equity gaps and creating new vulnerabilities in settings where a device is a valuable and coveted object. On AI specifically, rather than rushing it into students’ hands, Cambridge's focus is on the adults in the room to empower teachers, streamline curriculum mapping, support lesson planning in under-resourced regions like sub-Saharan Africa, and help governments build policy frameworks. The HP Cambridge EdTech Policy Fellowship extends this work further to facilitate structured cross-national learning and conversations and drive systemic change. Tune in for a conversation that is as expansive in its thinking as it is grounded in the realities of education on the front line.

Philanthropy Filling the AI Education Gap

The conversation between Elizabeth Moore and Daniel in this episode provides a window into how the Gates Foundation is navigating the evolving landscape of AI in K-12 education. As Deputy Director with the U.S. K-12 team, Elizabeth explains that the Gates Foundation operates at multiple levels to improve classroom instruction through research, quality standards, and strategic investments. This includes influencing frontier AI labs like OpenAI and Google, developing evaluation frameworks, and creating networks to disseminate evidence-based practices. They choose this approach hoping to help bridge gaps that neither government nor markets adequately address, particularly important as AI development outpaces traditional curriculum cycles. One concerning trend that Elizabeth observes when discussing AI adoption in schools is the well-meaning but counterproductive “no AI” policies that prevent students from developing critical skills for their futures. She, instead, advocates for thoughtful implementation guided by clear educational purposes and robust evaluation of outcomes. The conversation also highlights mathematics as an area with AI potential. Elizabeth describes how AI can support personalised learning by instantly diagnosing specific prerequisite skill gaps and delivering targeted instruction which is a process that traditionally required extensive teacher time and effort. Other suggestions for school leaders that are mentioned by Elizabeth in the episode include: Involve teachers in evaluating AI tools by encouraging them to test the systems' boundaries Align on the specific educational problems AI should solve before implementation Look beyond data security to broader considerations of pedagogical quality Create transparent communication channels with parents about AI's purpose and impact Throughout the discussion, Elizabeth emphasises the need for healthy skepticism about AI-generated data, balanced with recognition of its potential to enhance parent engagement and address learning gaps when implemented with clear purpose and ongoing assessment. Tune in to discover how one of education's most powerful philanthropies is working behind the scenes to ensure AI serves teachers and students, not the other way around.

When Your Students Trusts AI Over You

Our guest for this episode is Calvin Eden, the founder of LoudSpeaker who works with students across the UK through high-energy and interactive workshops on topics like resilience, emotional intelligence, and healthy relationships. Calvin meets young people in his everyday work, and seeing AI tools become a growing part of students' social and emotional lives reinforces his belief in the urgent need for schools to strengthen young people's confidence, communication skills, and sense of belonging. One major theme in his conversation with Daniel is the importance of human connection. While AI can be a useful tool in different ways, young people need to practice communication, build relationships with others, and learn to speak about their own vulnerability and ask teachers and parents for help when needed. He warns that if AI becomes a substitute for human interaction, students may become less resilient and more isolated. Their conversation also explores the student voice. Daniel shares Good Future Foundation's belief that students should help shape responsible AI policies in schools. Calvin agrees and describes how his work supports schools to build student voice strategies, run student conferences, and create opportunities for young people to be heard. Calvin also encourages school leaders to create a culture where staff and students connect as people, not just through formal roles. He wraps up the conversation by inviting educators to share stories, talk honestly about challenges and failures, and celebrate what they are proud of with their students to build a school environment where young people feel seen, safe, and valued.

The AI Research to Classroom Gap No One is Talking About

In this episode, Daniel sits down with Erin Mote of InnovateEDU about how education systems are responding to AI and where current approaches are falling short. Erin challenges the assumption that progress in education operates within fixed limits. She argues that system-level change depends on collaboration, shared practice, and open infrastructure rather than competition between schools, organisations, or regions. This approach underpins the work of the EDSAFE AI Alliance, which brings together policymakers, educators, and industry to define practical standards for AI use. Its SAFE framework focuses on safety, accountability, fairness, transparency and efficacy, with direct implications for procurement, policy and classroom practice. The conversation addresses the tension between the pace of AI adoption and the slower development of traditional evidence. Schools are already using these tools at scale, while formal research remains limited. Erin outlines the need for informed, iterative decision making supported by shared insight across systems. There is also a detailed discussion of risk. AI-driven personalisation has potential, but current implementations can narrow opportunity through rigid progression models, limited student agency and the use of sensitive data in ways that affect outcomes. These issues require closer scrutiny of how tools are designed and deployed. For school leaders, the priority is to act with intent. Building AI literacy across students, staff and parents is identified as the most immediate and practical step. Current usage levels among educators are high, while formal guidance remains inconsistent, creating a gap that needs to be addressed quickly. Erin also shares resources from InnovateEDU, including policy frameworks, planning tools and AI literacy materials designed to support schools in making informed decisions. The discussion returns throughout to the role of shared standards and coordinated action. Where systems align on safety and implementation, progress becomes more consistent and risks are easier to manage. Resources shared by Erin in this episode: InnovateEDU Manifesto New York City Public Schools policy and guideline EdSafe policy paper on chatbots and companions 2026 evidence report (released in March with Instructure and the list of 150 tools classification) AI literacy blueprint paper

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Dr. Biljana Scott: Language as Our Defining Asset

What makes human communication unique in an age of increasingly sophisticated AI? Daniel Emmerson invites Dr. Biljana Scott, a linguist with expertise in diplomatic communication and language analysis, to explore this question in depth. With her multilingual background and extensive experience in teaching the nuances of communication, Biljana probes the complex interplay between human language and AI interaction. Their conversation illuminates whether our increasing reliance on AI might reshape how we think and express ourselves, unpacks linguistic concepts like “presuppositions” in everyday speech, and reveals how the terminology we use to describe AI carries powerful connotations that fundamentally shape our relationship with technology.

Claire Archibald: Creating Effective AI Governance Structures in Schools

Is having an AI policy enough to protect your school? In this episode, Daniel Emmerson speaks with Claire Archibald, Legal Director at Brown Jacobson and former Data Protection Officer, about what effective AI governance in schools looks like. Their conversation covers essential topics including what makes a good Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA), the importance of vendor due diligence, and why schools need robust governance structures beyond just having an AI policy. Claire emphasises the critical role of incident reporting, creating transparent cultures around AI use, and the need for collaborative approaches involving all stakeholders. She also shares a six-step governance framework and practical advice for schools starting their AI journey.

Setting Visible Boundaries to Safeguard our Students in an AI-infused World

Daniel's conversation with Gemma Gwilliam, Portsmouth's Head of Digital Learning, Education and Innovation, explores transparency, privacy and safeguarding in AI education. The discussion takes a dramatic turn when Gemma puts on a pair of AI-enabled glasses which she purchased easily for under £10 right in the middle of the recording, bringing theoretical concerns into stark reality. This jaw-dropping demonstration underscores the urgent challenges teachers face as sophisticated AI wearables become increasingly accessible to students. While we may debate whether AI belongs in classrooms, we cannot ignore the significant risks these technologies present to young people. This episode reveals how Portsmouth supports its schools and teachers in approaching AI responsibly to strike a balance between innovation and essential safeguarding measures.

Hult Prize Accelerator Startups: How the Next Generation is Solving Global Problems with AI

What skills will our students genuinely need to thrive in a future driven by AI? To find the answer, Daniel Emmerson goes straight to the source and sits down with brilliant young minds behind seven teams from the Hult Prize Global Accelerator, one of the final stages of the world’s largest student startup competition. This episode takes you on a global tour of innovation. You'll hear how these young entrepreneurs are using AI to tackle large problems, like enhancing public safety by turning CCTV cameras into proactive witnesses, helping firefighters respond faster, pioneering sustainability by transforming agricultural waste into valuable resources, and creating a "calorie counter" for your carbon footprint. The conversations also cover how AI is being used to deliver personalised education in Ethiopia and provide gentle, effective speech therapy for children. Although these startups focus on very different issues, they all agree that the future isn’t about AI replacing people, but being empowered by it. Tune in to find out the essential skills our future generation will need.

Stick’Em: Hult Prize Winner Building Critical Thinkers for an AI World

In this episode, we spotlight Adam, the co-founder of Stick’Em, the innovative startup that just won the prestigious $1 million Hult Prize. He explains how his team develops a robotics kit that costs a mere fraction of traditional models to make quality STEAM education more accessible to children everywhere. This conversation, in two parts, offers a rare before-and-after glimpse of a startup on the cusp of greatness. First, hear from Adam during the Hult Prize Accelerator where he emphasises the importance of STEAM education in fostering skills like creative and analytical thinking to prepare students for an AI-infused world. Then, Daniel reconnects with Adam following his win and discusses how Stick’Em is already leveraging AI to streamline startup operations and plan their global expansion. Tune in for an interesting look at the intersection of affordable education, social impact, and cutting-edge artificial intelligence.

Muireann Hendriksen: Adapting AI Tools Based on Learning Science

In this episode, Daniel speaks with Muireann Hendriksen, the Principal Research Scientist at Pearson, about her team's recent research study called "Asking to Learn" The study analysed 128,000 AI queries from 9,000 student users to gain deeper insights into how students learn when they interact with AI study tools. Their key finding revealed that approximately one-third of student queries demonstrated higher-order thinking skills. Their conversation also explores important themes around trust, student engagement, accessibility, and inclusivity, as well as how AI tools can promote active learning behaviours. You can find the full research report at https://plc.pearson.com/sites/pearson-corp/files/asking-to-learn.pdf

Embracing AI in Education with GEMS Winchester

Summary This conversation explores the integration of AI in education, focusing on how a school has embraced AI technology to enhance learning outcomes. The discussion covers the importance of building a shared vision among stakeholders, the challenges of risk assessment and data privacy, and the cultural shift required to embrace AI. The speakers share their experiences with teacher training, experimentation with AI tools, and the current state of AI in classrooms. They reflect on their journey towards achieving an AI quality mark and discuss the future implications of AI in education. Takeaways AI integration requires a shared vision among all stakeholders. Risk assessment and data privacy are critical in AI implementation. Teachers need support and training to effectively use AI tools. Open communication with parents is essential for AI integration. Experimentation with AI can lead to innovative teaching practices. AI can enhance student engagement and learning outcomes. Professional development is key to overcoming resistance to AI. Schools must adapt policies to address the challenges of AI. AI tools should be used to complement, not replace, traditional teaching methods. The future of education will increasingly involve AI technologies.

Matthew Pullen: Purposeful Technology and AI Deployment in Education

Summary This episode features Matthew Pullen from Jamf, who talks about what thoughtful integration of technology and AI looks like in educational settings. Drawing from his experience working in the education division of a company that serves more than 40,000 schools globally, Mat has seen numerous use cases. He distinguishes between the purposeful application of technology to dismantle learning barriers and the less effective approach of adopting technology for its own sake. He also asserts that finding the correct balance between IT needs and pedagogical objectives is crucial for successful implementation. Good Future Foundation www.goodfuture.foundation

Matthew King: Creating a Culture of AI Literacy Through Conversation at Brentwood School

Summary: Many schools begin their AI journey by formulating AI policies. However, Matthew King, Director of Innovative Learning at Brentwood School, reveals their preference for establishing guiding principles over rigid policies considering AI’s rapidly evolving nature. Matt shares his approach to fostering dialogue with diverse school stakeholders. He describes engaging primary students in AI ethics and literacy, obtaining parental consent for use of AI in students’ learning, exploring AI applications with operational staff, and addressing teacher resistance through supportive one-on-one conversations. Throughout Brentwood’s AI journey, human connection remains central to cultivating a school-wide culture of AI literacy and integration. It is the power of conversation, not rulebooks that create the foundation for responsible and effective AI adoption. Good Future Foundation www.goodfuture.foundation

Alex More: Preserving Humanity in an AI-Enhanced Education

Summary: Alex was genuinely fascinated when reviewing transcripts from his research interviews and noticed that students consistently referred to AI as "they," while adults, including teachers, used "it." This small but meaningful linguistic difference revealed a fundamental variation in how different generations perceive artificial intelligence. As a teacher, senior leader, and STEM Learning consultant, Alex developed his passion for educational technology through creating the award-winning "Future Classroom", a space designed to make students owners rather than consumers of knowledge. In this episode, he shares insights from his research on student voice, explores the race toward Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), and unpacks the concept of AI "glazing". While he touches on various topics around AI during his conversation with Daniel, the key theme that shines through is the importance of approaching AI thoughtfully and deliberately balancing technological progress with human connection. Good Future Foundation www.goodfuture.foundation

Dave Leonard, Steve Lancaster: Approaching AI with cautious optimism at Watergrove Trust

Summary This podcast episode was recorded during the Watergrove Trust AI professional development workshop, delivered by Good Future Foundation and Educate Ventures. Dave Leonard, the Strategic IT Director, and Steve Lancaster, a member of their AI Steering Group, shared how they led the Trust's exploration and discussion of AI with a thoughtful, cautious optimism. With strong support from leadership and voluntary participation from staff across the Trust forming the AI working group, they've been able to foster a trust-wide commitment to responsible AI use and harness AI to support their priority of staff wellbeing. Good Future Foundation www.goodfuture.foundation

Thomas Sparrow: Navigating AI and the Disinformation Landscape

Summary This episode features Thomas Sparrow, a correspondent and fact checker, who helps us differentiate misinformation and disinformation, and understand the evolving landscape of information dissemination, particularly through social media and the challenges posed by generative AI. He is also very passionate about equipping teachers and students with practical fact checking techniques and encourages educators to incorporate discussions about disinformation into their curricula. Good Future Foundation www.goodfuture.foundation

Bukky Yusuf: Responsible technology integration in educational settings

Summary With her extensive teaching experience in both mainstream and special schools, Bukky Yusuf shares how purposeful and strategic use of technology can unlock learning opportunities for students. She also equally emphasises the ethical dimensions of AI adoption, raising important concerns about data representation, societal inequalities, and the risks of widening digital divides and unequal access. Good Future Foundation www.goodfuture.foundation

Dr. Lulu Shi: A Sociological Lens on Educational Technology

Summary In this enlightening episode, Dr Lulu Shi from the University of Oxford, shares technology’s role in education and society through a sociological lens. She examines how edtech companies shape learning environments and policy, while challenging the notion that technological progress is predetermined. Instead, Dr. Shi argues that our collective choices and actions actively shape technology's future and emphasises the importance of democratic participation in technological development. Good Future Foundation www.goodfuture.foundation