By Jennifer Kiilerich
Vanderbilt University's Golnaz Arastoopour Irgens, assistant professor of human-centered learning technologies at Peabody College of education and human development, partnered with Sarah K. Burriss (PhD'23, Peabody's Department of Teaching and Learning), assistant professor of the practice at the College of Connected Computing, to rethink how kids should learn about artificial intelligence. In a framework published in the journal Educational Researcher, they lay out how educators can embed social, ethical and critical thinking about AI into any lesson.
The framework comes amid the publication of 2025 results from the Program for International Student Assessment revealing that globally, students are becoming less creative in how they use digital technologies. "It's a quite troubling shift from creating to consuming, from producing to scrolling," said Andreas Sleicher, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development's director for education and skills, in a webinar announcing the findings.
Countering that trend toward passive consumption, the researchers want children to actively question AI. Critical thinking should be interwoven with technical competency, they argue. Students can learn to ask: Where did the data come from? Who designed the tool I'm using? Does it represent me? Is it helping me achieve my goals? Queries like these prepare K-12 learners to evaluate thoughtfully how they might improve AI tools, and whether they want to use them at all.
"We wanted to help people expand the idea of ethics in AI literacy and make it accessible," Arastoopour Irgens said. Pulling from guidelines that their research teams use, she and Burriss built a practical, four-point approach that differs from existing AI teaching methods, which tend to prioritize technical skills but might include just a single lesson on ethics.
The core concepts-being, knowing, acting and making-are interconnected and allow teachers to jump in at whatever stage fits their classroom. "There's a lot of evidence about not just learning things in isolation, but how different topics can connect for students. So, we encourage educators to think about how they can draw on these four components to have a more holistic, humanistic approach to AI literacy," said Arastoopour Irgens.
The key ingredients
Each component plays off the others, making the approach flexible.
- Being: Who am I when I interact with AI?
Students identify what they hope to get from AI interactions and then consider whether the tool sees them accurately and responds as anticipated. "We're integrating students' identities, cultures, linguistic cultures, and giving them the agency to choose in what contexts they want to use AI-or maybe resist it completely," Arastoopour Irgens said. "It's important that we give children pathways to reflect on whether they want to use these tools."
- Knowing: Who designs AI tools and how do they work?
"Knowing" refers to technical competence paired with an understanding that AI is human-made and subject to human critique. "We want to make sure the framework is encouraging learners to think not only about how emerging technology functions, but also who designs it and what the consequences are," Arastoopour Irgens explained. "These are things that can be taught together." At its simplest level, she said, it is "questioning, critiquing and imagining."
"Children are amazing philosophical thinkers-capable and deserving of having deep conversations about our world with AI."
- Acting: What power do I have to influence AI systems?
Students learn to evaluate what decisions they can make regarding AI and what power they might have in changing the systems around them. "Children have limited agency sometimes, but we can help them develop those questioning skills early. So, when they do become adults, they have those tools in their tool belt," Arastoopour Irgens explained. Burriss emphasized the importance of helping young people consider what power they might have: "Children are amazing philosophical thinkers-capable and deserving of having deep conversations about our world with AI," she said. "Our framework asks adults to facilitate these conversations and critical exploration and design of AI, inviting young people to participate in one of the most consequential issues of our lives."
- Making: How can I express myself, my knowledge and my values through an AI-related object?
Building something tangible can drive home learning. In particular, a malleable tool helps boost flexible thinking, allowing learners to shift their view (and change their creation) as they get new information. In her partnerships with local schools, Arastoopour Irgens often helps students construct AI robots. Additionally, Burriss suggests that students can create an AI bill of rights or public service announcements based on what they have learned about AI. "Acting and making are tightly coupled here," Arastoopour Irgens said. "Acting doesn't necessarily have to be making-you can act without making something in particular. And making is a kind of acting, and it can strengthen agency and control."
Adding the framework to real classrooms
Teachers who want to try the framework should start with whichever category they are most drawn to, Arastoopour Irgens noted. "The beauty of this plan is that while the learning objectives could focus on how things work at a deep technical level, they could also be used in a history class or social sciences class. We're seeing AI integrated in all different subjects, so I think that any teacher can use this."
At the heart of much of Arastoopour Irgens's work is a reminder that technology is human-made and should benefit the humans who use it. She hopes young people will develop an aptitude for identifying the human ideas behind high-tech tools and ultimately make changes to whatever feels problematic. "Then maybe they can reimagine and redesign what could be," she concluded.
Golnaz Arastoopour Irgens joined Peabody College's Department of Teaching and Learning in 2024. She also serves as director of Peabody's Idea Lab and is a board member at its LIVE Learning Innovation Incubator.
