The $4.7 million initiative will use AI at eight WA schools to reduce lesson planning time so teachers can spend more time in the classroom and less time bogged down with admin tasks.
AI is already being widely trialled by other Australian states in a national effort to make professional learning, marking and the development of assessments more efficient.
It can also be used to reduce teacher workload by simplifying and automating jobs such as excursion planning, meeting preparation, and general email correspondence, along with suggesting learning activities aligned to the national curriculum.
“We want our teachers to be teaching our kids,” WA Education Minister Dr Tony Buti said in a statement.
“To do this, unnecessary administrative burdens must be reduced, and we hope this new pilot program can support our teachers and ease their workload.
“We are determined to create the right conditions for school staff to get on with their jobs of providing a great education.”
Schools taking part in the AI pilot program are:
- Harrisdale Primary School
- Joseph Banks Secondary College
- Lesmurdie Primary School
- School of Isolated and Distance Education
- Emmanuel Catholic College
- Ursula Frayne Catholic College
- Carey Baptist College
- St James Anglican School
The Department of Education will deliver the pilot in partnership with Catholic Education WA, the Association of Independent Schools of WA, and the School Curriculum and Standards Authority.
Commonwealth funding, under the Workload Reduction Fund, will be matched with equal co-investment from the Cook Government to implement the pilot. The WA non-Government sector will also contribute $300,000.
The pilot drew on consultation with teachers, principals and deputies, school support staff, peak bodies and unions and is part of the Commonwealth’s $30 million Workload Reduction Fund under the National Teacher Workforce Action Plan, which education ministers agreed to in December 2022.
In a statement, Federal Education Minister Jason Clare said the idea that teachers clock on at 9am and knock off at 3pm is rubbish.
“AI will never replace a great teacher, but it can help cut down the time they spend doing admin so they can spend more time in the classroom,” Clare said.
“That’s why the Albanese Government is investing $30 million in the Workload Reduction Fund so they can maximise their time with students.”
This initiative will be informed by the Australian Framework for Generative Artificial Intelligence in Schools, which assists school communities to use generative AI in a safe and effective way.
This builds on the recently signed Statement of Intent by the Australian and Western Australian Governments to fully and fairly fund all WA public schools by 2026.
Under the agreement, the most disadvantaged public schools in WA will be fully funded first. This represents an additional $777.4 million investment by the Albanese Government in Western Australian public schools from 2025 to 2029.
Back in November, the WA Education Department announced that it had identified immediate, short-term and longer-term strategies to lighten the load for public school educators, through consultation and workshops with unions and associations, principals, teachers, and administrative staff.
These included:
- $2.26 million to be invested to trial 16 Complex Behaviour SupportCoordinators to work with public school leaders to ensure students with disabilities and learning challenges have tailored educational programs that best suit their individual needs;
- An innovative pilot project jointly funded by State and Federal Governments to cut red tape by digitising paper-based school forms, providing consistent, accessible and efficient ways to share information online. Each form submitted saves 30 minutes of staff time compared to the paper-based version; and
- Simplifying the process in relation to the exclusion of public school students and strengthening support to schools.
Buti said when he became education minister, he committed to reducing administrative tasks that take teachers away from their students and out of their classrooms.
“I am strongly of the view that anything that gets in the way of teachers delivering high-quality lessons needs to be reduced to the absolute minimum,” he said.
“This is not a new issue or one unique to WA. However, we want to keep our capable, committed teachers.
“We are determined to create the right conditions for school staff to get on with their jobs.”
In May this year, EducationHQ chatted to Queensland teacher and tech expert, Miriam Scott, about the transformative potential of generative AI technology to improve teaching and learning.
Scott, Head of Digital Education at Hillbrook Anglican School in Brisbane, said rather than using it for help with lesson plans, resource development or marking and assessment, AI is far better suited to other areas.
“...generative AI actually helps with all the other aspects of our administration and our role, to allow us to have more time to do those, and better support student learning...”
Scott said the tech can be better used, for example, to help form a response to someone, perhaps to help tidy up feedback or help with emails and so on.
“It can help with your day-to-day things, which is something that teachers are really struggling with,” she said.
“And while technology is great, it also means that we’re accessible to parents and students and other teachers, almost 24/7, which is one of the reasons that teaching is becoming an overworked profession.
“So generative AI can help in that instance, and I think when teachers see that they go, ‘Oh, yeah, OK, that makes sense.”
Along with a host of other teachers with technology expertise, Scott has helped form Queensland Schools Network for Emerging Technologies, or QueenslandSNET.
More than 30 independent schools now comprise the network, which is cross-denominational.
All Queensland secondary schools are welcome, and its mission is not only about sharing best practice, but also to develop resources and communication with schools that don’t have the advantage of having someone of Scott’s expertise within them.
