Confucius is one of the world’s first prominent educators and is commemorated by MUSD every September in recognition of his legacy in providing pathways for All. His school was founded on the Five Virtues of Benevolence, Righteousness, Propriety, Wisdom, and Faithfulness, all elements of a resilient and thoughtful community that is grounded in building a Culture of We. Human development occurs through learning -- everything that is not instinct is learned through experience.

The quality of our learning opportunities fuels our imagination. Learning with others provides us with practice in articulating ideas, perspectives, and wonder. These are uniquely human skills that provide us with the ability to use artificial intelligence and machine learning effectively. Laura Furstenthal, a Sr. leader at McKinsey, described key human skill sets that are needed for transforming the future such as judgement and humor, which “flips logic on its head.” While the McKinsey Institute reported that by 2030 about 30% of hours worked in the US could be automated, “AI will only take the jobs of those who don’t know how to work with AI,” said Furstenthal in a KQED Forum discussion. Ken Durrazo, science and technologist VP at Dell stated that AI brings a vast knowledge base to blend with human cognizance and is “changing the social contract of going to college.” In a forum held by HFSV he said that learners need to have access to AI while also building skills for life long learning. 

Curiosity, critical thinking, and logic are our superpowers in using tech tools such as AI. Our learners explore new ideas, hone their logic, and collaborate with each other every day. Last spring several of our educators shared with our Board the ways that they were integrating AI in their work and instruction -- C2C AI Tools in the Classroom. In several 2nd grade math classes at Sinnott this week our students worked through number puzzles with parameters such as a number that is 7 more than one and 6 less than the other, where the sum of the three numbers is less than 25.  In pairs and as a whole they wrestled with possibilities and then worked solo to test out different strategies, coming together with what they discovered. Like Confucius, we are united in building a Culture of We where our educators are preparing our students to be the designers of our future through uniquely human ingenuity and connection.