Beyond recall: Forging future-ready learners with concept-based teaching and AI as our ally

By Sean Smith (he/him), teacher, Vancouver

After three decades as a middle-school teacher in British Columbia, primarily supporting students with diverse learning needs, I’ve experienced many educational changes and reforms. Yet, I’ve seen our system—and sometimes our own classroom practices—struggle to keep pace with the escalating complexities faced by students and educators. Teaching today is undeniably more demanding. We navigate diversity in student backgrounds, languages, and learning profiles, alongside evolving societal expectations and pressures. The old model of “teaching to the middle,” if it ever truly served us, is now definitively obsolete.

This is not criticism, but an observation as we reach a crucial crossroads. The world students are inheriting demands not just what they know, but fundamentally whether they know how to learn. It’s imperative our teaching practices embrace this shift. Many of us were trained when “covering the content” was paramount. But in an age of instant information access, clinging to a content-first model leaves students disadvantaged in the modern world. Students need robust intellectual frameworks to understand, critique, and apply knowledge in novel situations.

The shift: My journey from content coverage to concept crafting

My own pedagogical evolution gained momentum nearly 20 years ago through exploring universal design for learning and project-based learning. My work with students facing learning difficulties, disabilities, and significant emotional support needs pushed me to create bespoke materials. I delved into the science of reading, writing, and appropriately scaffolded mathematics, deepening my understanding of student diversity. This coalesced into a teaching philosophy starkly different from my training: seeing students as individuals, each requiring a unique approach. For almost two decades, I haven’t relied on standard textbooks, instead crafting and adapting materials.

I began telling students my primary role was to help them learn how to learn. While foundational knowledge remains vital, my approach extends further. I teach multiplication and division, but also the concept of what these operations represent. I teach students to read, but also how and why they read, connecting literacy to critical thinking, organization, and planning. This focus on the “what, why, and how” is the heart of concept-based teaching.

Concept-based teaching: Why it’s essential now

Instead of marching students through isolated facts, concept-based teaching focuses on big, transferable ideas. Consider World War 1:

Traditional model: Students memorize names, dates, treaties.

Concept-based model: Students explore the concept of “conflict” or “escalation” using WW1 as a lens. They analyze patterns, compare it to other conflicts, and develop a deeper, transferable understanding of how conflicts arise and evolve.

This conceptual grasp is critical because the availability of information at our fingertips makes comprehensive content mastery less necessary. Understanding core concepts like “systems,” “change,” “perspective,” or “interdependence” empowers students to make sense of new information, connect disparate ideas, and engage in the critical thinking desperately needed. This approach naturally cultivates metacognition—thinking about one’s own thinking—as students learn to:

·      ask meaningful questions.

·      seek out, evaluate, and synthesize resources.

·      organize information effectively.

·      collaborate and communicate understanding.

·      adapt and persevere through challenges.

These are not just academic skills; they are essential life skills for an unpredictable future.

"...in an age of instant information access, clinging to a content-first model leaves students disadvantaged in the modern world. Students need robust intellectual frameworks to understand, critique, and apply knowledge in novel situations."

Enter technology: AI as our ally—The imperative to teach, not ban

Recently, the conversation around digital tools in schools, including artificial intelligence (AI), often veers toward restriction or prohibition. I firmly believe our approach must be proactive education, not reactive avoidance. Our responsibility is to teach students to navigate the digital world wisely and ethically, using tools like AI for learning and critical inquiry—not as replacements for their own thinking. Failing to do so leaves them unprepared.

AI is not the answer; it’s a powerful instrument. The anxieties are understandable: will it make students lazy or replace critical thinking? Only if we abdicate our role in teaching discernment.

For teachers: AI as an indispensable assistant

AI can significantly enhance our pedagogical expertise. In my own BC classroom, it has become an invaluable partner in creating bespoke, engaging learning materials at scale.

The core challenge: Effectively differentiating for a wide range of reading and comprehension levels.

My AI-powered solution—Narrative “textbooks”: For the first time in my career, AI enables me to develop entire units built around specific concepts, meticulously adapted to four distinct reading and comprehension levels (roughly Grades 7, 5, 3, and 1).

Engaging diverse learners: To foster engagement and provide a safe distance for exploring potentially sensitive topics (e.g., complex social issues, human biology), I weave these concepts into immersive narratives using themes like fantasy, sci-fi, or adventure. For instance, a unit on government types unfolds as a post-apocalyptic journey where a survivor encounters various settlements, exposing students to democracies, monarchies, and theocracies in action. The goal is for students to grasp the core concepts, even if all vocabulary isn’t retained.

Tangible impact: I’ve developed over 15 such units spanning science, social studies, math, and social-emotional learning. Crucially, for students with significant learning disabilities, these tailored materials make content accessible, allowing them to focus on reading and comprehension within an engaging context and participate in discussions about the topic.

Delivery and interaction: These resources, complete with bespoke study guides and sometimes audio/video interactive elements, are delivered through versatile platforms like OneNote, PDFs, interactive flipbooks, and even custom chatbots for their digital workbooks. This level of differentiation and creative content generation was simply unimaginable before AI.

For students: AI as a learning partner, not a crutch

We must explicitly teach students to leverage AI to augment their intellectual efforts:

Brainstorming: “AI, give me five potential arguments for this historical decision.” (Then they analyze, select, and build.)

Understanding complexities: “AI, explain photosynthesis as if I’m in Grade 5.” (Then they verify and deepen understanding.)

Generating practice: “AI, create five multiple-choice questions about the legislative branch.” (For them to test their own recall.)

Draft feedback: Seeking clarity or grammar suggestions after their initial thinking and writing.

The key is that AI assists the learning process; it doesn’t short-circuit it. This necessitates fostering comprehensive digital and AI literacy—understanding how these tools work, their biases, evaluating output, and integrating them into their learning workflow as an aid, not a substitute. Our assessments must also evolve, shifting focus toward process, application of concepts, and articulation of thinking.

The future is now: Making the shift in your classroom

This transformation doesn’t require a seismic overhaul. It can begin with small, intentional steps:

Identify one core concept: In your next unit, design activities that encourage deep exploration of it, moving beyond surface-level coverage.

Introduce one AI tool: Provide clear guidelines for ethical and effective use as a learning aid, emphasizing its role in supporting, not replacing, student effort.

Explicitly discuss “learning how to learn”: Ask students how they are approaching a task, not just what the answer is. Include how to manage and utilize digital tools responsibly.

Many dedicated BC teachers are eager to adapt but may feel uncertain or unsupported. My hope is that by sharing these ideas, born from decades on the front lines, we can empower each other. Students’ futures depend on our ability to teach them how to think, adapt, and, most importantly, how to learn—skills that include the discerning use of all available tools. By embracing concept-based teaching and thoughtfully integrating AI, we can equip them not just for the next test, but for the complexities and opportunities of a lifetime.