Creating Culturally Responsive Human AI Complementarity Frameworks for Pakistani Public Schools

https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.20840547

Abstract

The challenges have come as a setback to Pakistan's public schools. From one side, there is pressure from the policy makers and international development groups to introduce AI in classes. From the other side, there are increasing pressures on the policy makers and international development groups to introduce AI in classrooms. Conversely, the show on the ground is far from the impressive pilot programmes and conference presentations. The majority of schools have no stable electricity or internet. Teachers are underpaid, overworked, and are not given time or support to try out new tools. But the discussion around AI in the classroom continues, disregarding those who will be most impacted. This article suggests that the current vision for the use of AI in Pakistani schools is not well suited to the context in which they are situated. Current approaches to integrating AI have been designed to fit the needs of affluent, English-speaking, well-funded school systems in the Global North. If those frameworks are simply imported into Pakistan without serious adaptation, then they not only do not assist, but they may actually aggravate current disparities between the classes. This research is based on the findings of a concurrent mixed-methods study that explored how teachers and administrators in public schools from various regions in Pakistan feel when facing the convergence of theory with practice in the classroom. Surveys charted the infrastructural landscape, and it was apparent how severe the digital divide is. Qualitative interviews then provided teachers with the time to describe how it is really felt to be instructed to use tools that are not supported by their school, not trained, not part of their school policy, and for which they have no idea how to apply it to their students. The main argument presented in this article is that there should be a Human-AI complementarity framework for the sustainable adoption of AI in public schools in Pakistan where AI serves as a tool that complements, does not supplant, teacher judgment, and relationships. This framework should be culturally responsive, and should take into consideration the linguistic diversity that exists in Pakistani classrooms, the importance of education through community trust, and pedagogical traditions that already exist in classrooms. It should also acknowledge the constraints and take into account what schools can achieve now and not what they might in an ideal world.

Keywords: Artificial Intelligence in Education, Human–AI Complementarity, Public Schools, Culturally Responsive Education, Digital Divide, Teacher Agency, Pakistan.