How Stratford Hall is harnessing artificial intelligence to get students future-ready

As artificial intelligence (AI) becomes increasingly mainstream, debate continues about how the new technology should be used in schools. At Stratford Hall, a kindergarten to grade 12 independent school in Vancouver, AI is embraced as a tool to support students in becoming critical thinkers and global citizens.

A forward-thinking approach

“There have been many technological innovations that have impacted education over the course of time,” says Richard Kassissieh, head of school at Stratford Hall. “And AI is the latest one that promises to shake things up pretty significantly.”

As an International Baccalaureate (IB) World School, Stratford Hall’s primary goal is to help students develop critical thinking skills. “We always want to use AI to promote thinking, active engagement, inquiry, investigating questions and connecting deeply with the real world,” Kassissieh says.

“The IB gives us such a great framework for developing critical thinking skills, so it’s a nice foundation for us to look at AI through that lens,” adds Andrea Ryan, the school’s Idea Lab and Ed Tech coordinator. The Idea Lab at Stratford Hall is an innovative and collaborative space where students experiment with emerging technologies, tackle real-world challenges and develop creative solutions across disciplines. This theme of innovation and learning based on concrete examples extends across the school, including with AI.

“We invite students to grapple with legitimately complex questions,” says Kassissieh. As an example, Kassissieh notes that, while the school is committed to sustainability, it’s also committed to technology and innovation: two things that do not always reconcile very well. Kasissieh says, “Teaching kids to grapple with those inconsistencies or dilemmas that do not have easy answers is right at the heart of our inquiry-based and real-world approach.”

AI as a complement, not a replacement

Beyond being a rich topic of conversation, AI also has practical uses that are integrated throughout the school. “With teacher guidance, support and good prompting, it can have a meaningful difference in what students are learning,” Ryan says.

For instance, some teachers in the Senior School use Google Notebook LM to upload sources from class so students can engage with the material via an AI chatbot—in audio or video format. “It’s giving students that opportunity to engage deeply with the process and to help them build up domain expertise,” says Ryan. “It’s a complement and not a replacement for those beautiful relationships that can happen in a class.”

Kassissieh adds: “AI could really make education more easily accessible to people who learn in all sorts of different ways.”

Foundations on how to use AI, along with ethical considerations and digital literacy, are introduced early in the Junior School before kids begin to really dig into using the technology. Both Kassissieh and Ryan emphasize that AI technology is not a shortcut to getting answers, and that the school teaches students how to be on the right side of academic integrity. “The learning process is deeper; [it’s important to] recognize that sometimes it has to be hard, and it’s not about getting a quick, easy answer,” Ryan says.

Evolving as an institution

Stratford Hall teachers are using AI to streamline their day-to-day tasks. For example, teachers in the Junior School rely on platforms like Toddle to assist in planning and rubric generation. AI is also pushing the school to continue to innovate as a modern educational institution.

“It’s not a question of whether the school should engage with AI, it’s that we’d rather the kids learn with the guidance of adults by their side than just by themselves,” says Kassissieh. “There’s a natural fit between grappling with the opportunities and challenges of AI, the mission and vision of our school, and the mission and design of the IB programme.”

Preparing future-ready graduates

In this context, Kassissieh and Ryan emphasize that Stratford Hall is preparing its students to be future-ready. “The more powerful technologies become in our world, the more important it will be to explicitly connect with the process of growing as humans,” Kassissieh says.

Stratford Hall is well-reputed for ensuring students successfully transition to their first year of university. Beyond post-secondary preparation, the school also focuses on shaping students as individuals ready for a future in a rapidly changing digital world.

“Our greatest objective is to prepare students to realize their full potential, to be inspired to passionately steward our changing world,” says Kassissieh. “That means we need to guide them to think and act the most productively for whatever technologies are around and whatever the world brings to us.”

That includes AI: “Those people who will be the most in demand in the working world in the future will be the people who can be creative, who can connect ideas, who can use good judgment,” Kassissieh explains. “This aligns with the work that we’ve always done at Stratford Hall. So, we are well-positioned to prepare students for an AI-centric future.”

Learn more about thinking-focused and innovative education at stratfordhall.ca.

Connect on Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn.