'AI Can Be A Hugely Democratizing Tool': Wendy Kopp Discusses Future Of Education

What are the most important skills held by the next generation’s leaders? How can we empower disadvantaged communities through education? What place does AI have in education? CEO and Co-Founder of Teach for All, Wendy Kopp, discussed all of these questions and more in this week’s edition of “The Raz Report.”

Kopp’s Education Journey: After graduating from Princeton University in 1989, Kopp founded Teach for America, a program that empowers recent college graduates to provide educational opportunities to those in need. In 2007, Kopp co-founded Teach for All, a global network of 62 organizations (including Teach for America) dedicated to making a difference globally.

Teach for All is a program that recruits promising college graduates to two years of teaching in rural and urban schools.

Kopp noted that when she attended college, she was displeased with the recruitment culture that led the nation’s top students to work at banks and consulting firms following graduation. Kopp believed that addressing inequities and making a real difference aligned better with her generation’s goals.

The Next Generation: Kopp outlined specific traits in the next generation that she believes are indicative of their potential to become future difference-makers.

“We’re looking for people who have taken on big things and have figured out what they can control and have driven towards those big, ambitious things, because that’s what it takes to succeed with kids, especially in very under-resourced systems that really weren’t set up to meet their extra needs,” Kopp told Benzinga co-founder Jason Raznick.

Kopp pointed to relationship-building as another important skill.

“We’re looking for people who are very relational. We find that people who form relationships with their students, the students families, the other teachers in the schools, with each other, who look for help. That’s a huge, huge differentiator.”

Empowering Disadvantaged Communities: The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated several of the inequalities inherent to the United States’ educational system. Kopp discussed the next step in addressing inequalities and injustices.

“Like, we need to really prioritize education at a different level,” Kopp said. “And that means everything from, you know, everything from who we think should be part of this education workforce to how much we invest in it, to how we think about the very purpose of education. Like, we need to reset on the whole picture.”

AI in Education: Tools such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT have fundamentally changed educational dynamics. While some are pessimistic about AI’s future in education, Kopp believes that it can “be a hugely democratizing tool.”

Kopp believes that AI can make teaching and learning easier and more accessible. However, she also emphasized the necessity of having strong educational foundations in place dedicated to learning, equity and excellence.

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Photo: Benzinga