Is a Cigar a Smoking Gun? I look again at Skills in the NSW K-6 Syllabus and the AI bogeyman.

Sometimes a cigar it’s just a cigar but on some days, it feels like cigar is, and excuse mixed metaphor, a slightly smoking gun.

I started by revising whether the skills taught in indicator six Primary syllabus such as problem-solving communication and critical thinking could potentially be, let’s be gentle and say ‘updated’ in the workforce by AI in the very near future. I thought I may have been a victim of hyperbole, or even worse, getting over excited and ‘not cool about things’.

The primary (K–6) syllabuses don’t include a dedicated “workplace readiness” subject; however, they are designed around general capabilities and a broader K–12 Career Learning Framework that emphasize skills—such as problem‐solving, communication, and critical thinking—that are intended to be transferable to life beyond school, including the workplace.

Ok, so maybe I was on the wrong track.

But something that Professor Toby Walsh said last week at the at the University of Sydney

said in 40 years researching AI, the one thing that surprised him, apart from the scale of the AI goldrush, is the sheer pace of change, and the fear a tsunami of change will overcome the workplace.

This thought kept bothering me, so I went back to the data.

I went back to the source Syllabus to see if I could find the section in the New South Wales Primary k-12 syllabus across all subjects, that refers to preparing students for the workplace, or their future, or employment. Perhaps I was on the wrong track and that the Primary syllabus doesn’t really recognise workplace skills? Perhaps it’s seen as being just a little too far over the horizon, perhaps I was on the hot tomale train to nowhere, barking up a tree in the forest that nobody hears, or cares about.

Turns out I was right though. Apart from oblique references to kindergarten students pretending which occupation they might want to be when they grow up, there isn’t anything explicit that mention preparing students for the workplace, or employment etc.

Then I found the below

This is a short excerpt from the Future Ready: A student focused National Career Education Strategy (Australian Government, 2019), which explicitly links the kinds of foundational skills taught in primary school (problem-solving, communication, critical thinking) with future workplace needs:

“From the early years of schooling, children develop essential skills—such as problem solving, communication, creativity and collaboration—that lay the groundwork for further learning and for success in work. Employers consistently rate these core capabilities as critical to thriving in the modern workforce. Embedding career-related learning activities in primary school helps students recognise how these foundational skills transfer to a range of occupations and workplace settings.”

Department of Education (2019). Future Ready: A student focused National Career Education Strategy. Canberra: Australian Government.

This it inspired me to find any reference in any government publication, whether it be syllabus or reports, that references AI as part of the Primary school New South Wales syllabus or learning content

I found the money shot in the K-6 Science and Technology syllabus, stage 3 (because if it’s going to be anywhere, it’s stage 3). This was a proposed syllabus and this is the most important part implementation from 2027.

I read the section where AI might have been perfectly placed, which was in ‘Design and digital technologies engineer sustainable solutions’…

Have a look at the below and see if anything strikes you as….um…missing.

The Future Can be Shaped by Building and Connecting Digital Systems (But Not AI)

Here are the outcomes for the same, just for an idea of the broad skills we are seeking to teach.

• ST3-PQU-01: Poses questions to identify variables and conducts fair tests to gather data

• ST3-DAT-01: Interprets data to support explanations and arguments

• ST3-DDT-01: Uses design processes to create, evaluate, and modify designed solutions

• ST3-DDT-02: Creates, evaluates, and modifies algorithms to code or control digital devices and systems

• ST3-CWT-01: Creates written texts to communicate understanding of scientific and technological concepts and processes

https://curriculum.nsw.edu.au/learning-areas/science/science-and-technology-k-6-2024/outcomes

Yes, that’s right, apart from any reference to AI, it struck me that many of these items were ready, or in a very short time going to be superseded and performed by artificial intelligence.

Quick analysis is below. Probably the key takeaway (to use classic AI parlance, it really does get in…)  from the small bit of research was the implementation from 2027. No doubt there is much room for development and I have respect for the fact that the syllabus developers and reporters are more than well aware that to be able to keep up is not even feasible.

I really like the below from the Australian Framework for Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Schools. I think it expresses in the most subtle way possible, but almost beautifully succinctly.

“Because generative AI is advancing at an unprecedented pace, the recommendations outlined in this framework reflect the state of the technology at the time of publication. They are intended as a starting point only and may require regular review and update to remain relevant as new breakthroughs emerge.”

Australian Framework for Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Schools – Introduction Section (2023)

So, to the cigar. I expected to find something on AI in the proposed 2027 Syllabus. I am really surprised there isn’t, but perhaps the rate of change is too fast, and more importantly the writers recognise that.

Yet what about the skills we are teaching.

Would students soon recognise the items in the table above, and what does this mean for future engagement?