Ahead of the new school year, a group of teachers gathered in a Michigan State University building in August to discuss what makes educating Gen Z and their successors, Gen Alpha so different.
Some brought up a greater reliance on technology or a shorter attention span. Others have noticed an almost brutal honesty or lack of filter. The conversation also turned to where young people get their information, from less traditional sources of news to social media and YouTube.
These changes in learning and attitude in the classroom are important to understand as educators take on one of the most serious topics in the curriculum.
The teachers from around the state, along with MSU College of Education students, were participating in the university's Holocaust and Genocide Curriculum Fellowship.
The program, now in its third year, offers a weeklong intensive and several check-ins throughout the school year to educators to help them find best practices for teaching young people about historic atrocities.
"One of the things that we do is we try and give teachers entry points to teaching about a broad historical context, geographical contexts of different genocides, so that students can see themselves reflected in the curriculum," explained Laura Yares, an MSU religious studies professor who helps lead the program.
Since 2016, the state has mandated by law, 8-12th graders receive lessons on the Holocaust and the Armenian genocide.
Yares says the program has seen growing interest since it began in 2024.
"It would be hard to deny that we're living in an increasingly polarized world, and we teachers are very, very aware that, given the often toxic discourse in both our politics and also on social media, that students are coming into learning about genocide with new ideas and new vocabulary that maybe they didn't have to confront in previous years," she said.
Williamston Community Schools teacher Anne Wade says she's participating in the fellowship, so she can better relate to her students.
"I'm really trying to help bridge that gap, so I can keep my teaching authentic and keep the classroom real for the kids, and make those connections for the kids, so they can learn from the past still, and then adapt it for where we're at in the 21st century."
Another participant, Ross Gorman who teaches at East Lansing High School, says, oftentimes, his students are bringing a lived experience to his lessons.
"I teach in East Lansing, which is a really diverse community that pulls learners from around the world because of this university," he said. "I have to have this right because I have, you know, the survivors and the descendants of some of these events in my classroom."
That includes ensuring students are getting the right information from the right sources. That's why Yares says conversations about the prevalence of AI use by students is a part of the fellowship.
"We are increasingly hearing from teachers is about the role that Gen AI is playing in the classroom, and how that is limiting students' abilities to think for themselves and to counter misinformation."
Where AI works or doesn't work in the classroom
WKAR News spoke to four teachers participating in the fellowship who all had slightly different approaches to balancing technology as a resource while also making sure students can learn on their own.
Some of them are going back to requiring all assignments to be handwritten or having students include edit receipts when they turn in documents to ensure they're not copying and pasting wholesale from an AI service.
Gorman says he's been taking a back to basics approach.
"I've kind of backed up on the skills and said we need to focus on things like note taking and reading, comprehension and focus and attention."
Another teacher, Marie Sarnacki from South Lyon East High School, says she's having students complete assignments typically done at home in the classroom, so she can monitor their work and keep them in locked-down online browsers. She does worry though because that can take away from instruction time.
She says she's seeing parallels to when students started showing up to school with cellphones, and thinks down the line, we might better understand how AI has impacted students.
"We were told cell phones are ubiquitous and students just have to learn how to self-regulate, and that didn't work. It became a huge problem. It was massively damaging to our students in school, and I think we'll see something similar with AI," Sarnacki said.
Bethany Cordle who teaches at North Branch High School in Lapeer County has a different take on AI. She utilizes it for lesson prep and allows students to use it, with some parameters.
That includes instructing them on good prompt creation and how to identify hallucinations in results. For certain research assignments, they're only able to work with sources she's provided the AI platform. She says she wants students to consider it as a research partner.
"It's not going to think for you. You still have to make the decision. You're still responsible for the outcome, but have it kind of bounce ideas back and forth with it," Cordle explained.
For Cordle, bringing AI in the classroom takes the subversiveness out of using it as something usually forbidden and may better prepare students for life beyond high school.
"The more I can teach them, the more equipped they are for the future, and yes, teaching them that it lies has actually alleviated a lot of them just turning in AI work.
But she says there are limits to how she incorporates AI as a tool. Because of how sensitive learning about the Holocaust or genocides can be, she thinks it might not be the right fit for engaging students on these specific topics.
"This is their last chance to take a history class"
A recent NPR/Ipsos poll found a majority of teachers have concerns about the impact of AI on their students' critical thinking skills. Many also feel schools should have a larger role in teaching them how to use AI tools responsibly.
But students aren't a monolith. While some are relying on AI to complete classwork, others are rejecting the technology, something mentioned by several of the teachers WKAR News talked to.
Similarly, some students may need more instruction to understand why genocides can happen and why it matters. There are other students who lean into the lessons because they see ethnic groups right now dealing with targeted violence around the world. Gorman, the teacher from East Lansing, says he welcomes those conversations.
"I've had Palestinian students as long as I've been a teacher. I've had Israeli students, and I had both in my classroom when the conflict began. So, questions, yes, but also like great insights from these kids who have their own lived experiences, right?" he said. "So, when I'm in those spaces, I do my best not to dictate too much and to ask more if they're willing to share."
Yares says part of the MSU program is preparing teachers to be ready for whatever students bring to the classroom whether it's their own experiences, things they see online or what they hear at home.
"We have to take very, very seriously the fact that our students are very, very well aware that there are mass atrocities happening in different parts of the world, and provide them with real answers as to the historical context of where that suffering comes from, to acknowledge that that suffering is real and avoidable, and to acknowledge that we still have a lot of work to do before we have truly taken on the lessons of history to provide a more just and equitable future for tomorrow," she said.
Anne Wade, a Williamston Community Schools teacher, says she carries a deep responsibility to be with students as they end their primary education experience and to shape how they think and learn.
"This is their last chance to take a history class in high school. They might not take another one their entire life if they go right into the workforce," Wade said.
"My goal is that they'll be lifelong learners, that they'll look at different media sources as well as books to learn and continue learning and growing as humans."
Interview Transcript
Melorie Begay: Many mid-Michigan students are heading back to school this month, and teachers are grappling with how to educate young people who may increasingly rely on AI to get their information or to complete assignments.
WKAR’s All Things Considered host Sophia Saliby explored how teachers are tackling one especially difficult topic in the curriculum and how the use of AI by students could be problem when teaching these lessons.
She joins us now. Hi Sophia.
Sophia Saliby: Hi, Melorie.
Begay: So, tell us about your story, Sophia.
Saliby: So, last week, I was on campus at Michigan State University for its Holocaust and Genocide Curriculum Fellowship. This is a week-long intensive with teachers from around the state, as well as college students that are in training to be teachers, to find best practices on teaching young people about these historic atrocities.
So, participating teachers will end up coming back for check-ins throughout the school year, and I was just there to observe and see what was coming up for teachers when it comes to what they're seeing in the classroom.
Begay: So, how did AI come up in the conversation during this training?
Saliby: A lot of the sessions that I was present for were focused on finding ways to be relatable to students. You know, these are young Gen Z, Gen Alpha students, finding where they're coming from and how to bring them into these serious and often emotional conversations and lessons.
There was also focus on training students to think critically, which can be hard if they offload their research to an AI platform. Laura Yares is a Jewish studies professor at MSU who helps run the program, and she said this:
Laura Yares: We are increasingly hearing from teachers about the role that Gen AI is playing in the classroom, and how that is limiting students' abilities to think for themselves and to counter misinformation.
Saliby: So again, this is just another part of the training, giving teachers tools to better educate and communicate with their students.
Begay: And how are teachers dealing with their students using AI?
Saliby: A lot of different ways. I talked to four teachers, and they were grappling with balancing using technology as a resource, sometimes a great resource, but also ensuring students can actually learn on their own.
So, some of them are going back to requiring all assignments to be handwritten or having students use edit receipts on their documents, so they can't just copy and paste from an AI service. That includes Ross Gorman from East Lansing High School, who is taking a back to basics approach.
Ross Gorman: I've kind of backed up on the skills and said we need to focus on things like note taking and reading, comprehension and focus and attention.
Saliby: Another teacher mentioned something I found interesting, which she's moving a lot of at-home assignments to the classroom, so that she can monitor them or have them use a locked down online browser. But in another way, that can take away from instruction time because you're packing everything into these short class periods.
Begay: Okay, and what about teachers? Are any of them utilizing AI then?
Saliby: I think so. I talked to one teacher, Bethany Cordle who teaches in Lapeer County in the Thumb region, and she uses AI for lesson prep, and then also does allow her students to use it, but it comes with a lot of caveats. There's kind of a multi-step system with how she allows students to use it, so that's limiting the resources that AI agents can pull from, or teaching students how to identify hallucinations. This is what she said about that:
Bethany Cordle: The more I can teach them, the more equipped they are for the future. And yes, teaching them that it lies has actually alleviated a lot of them just turning in AI work.
Saliby: But I will say when it comes to Cordle, she says that she's unlikely to utilize AI in this way when it comes to teaching about genocides or the Holocaust because it's a very serious topic. There's a lot of misinformation, and she doesn't want students taking away the wrong lessons.
Begay: So, do you have any other takeaways from this event?
Saliby: I think for a lot of people, AI is an existential issue, and I think that's true for teachers, you know, what they learn and how they learn, I think will impact them for the rest of their lives. I still remember reading "Maus," the graphic novel, and "Night" by Ellie Wiesel in the classroom when I was in high school, about the Holocaust.
In another way, students are also not a monolith. According to teachers, some find it hard to relate to learning about genocides. They might say, "Oh, this is happening somewhere else or in a different time, not quite now." And then others are more engaged because they see ethnic groups right now dealing with targeted violence.
Similarly, some students use AI to do their assignments, which is maybe not great. But others are rejecting technology and wanting to go back to the physical to learn. So, you know, a lot is going on, but the teachers and the people who train teachers are thinking about all this, which I think, in the end, is pretty good.
Begay: All right, we've been speaking to WKAR's All Things Considered host, Sophia Saliby. You can find her full story at wkar.org. Thanks for being here, Sophia.
Saliby: Thanks, Melorie.
