Cyborgs and Centaurs, and how they inspired my research on the impact of Generative AI on educators’ professional identities in Higher Education.
Maria Calonico
Keywords: Generative AI, higher education, professional identity, academic identity, CPD, disruptive technologies.
Generative AI (GenAI) can be defined as ‘a category of artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms that generate new outputs based on the data they have been trained on’ (Routley, 2023). This is accomplished by writing a short text (a prompt) in which the user describes the desired outcomes (Kurtz et al, 2024). It could be argued that Gen AI is reshaping academic work both for educators and students in Higher Education. It is used in the classroom, and for facilitating certain tasks for students, such as essay writing or summarising texts, and for teachers, such as preparing lectures and providing feedback. While there is extensive research on the pedagogical side of Gen AI, on whether it is beneficial or not for students, whether teachers should resist or welcome its use, there is very little in the literature about how educators’ identities are ‘informed, formed and reformed’ (Cooper and Olson, 1996 cited in Day et al. (2006) by the use of GenAI in higher education, and how it influences the evolving sense of professional self among university lecturers.
Therefore, the question that guides my research is:
How are professional identities of academic staff at a Russell Group university ‘formed and re-formed’ over time when confronted with the widespread use of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) tools?
In this presentation, I will begin by discussing what inspired me to pursue this topic for my research proposal. Most precisely, how the concepts of people as ‘cyborgs’ (Case, 2010) and teachers as ‘centaurs’ (Fassbender, 2024) led me to the exploration of professional identity of higher education lecturers and tutors. I will then share what decisions were taken in terms of the methodology and the specific methods that will be used in this study, which will draw on interpretivist and critical theoretical perspectives to capture the lived experiences of higher education faculty members. Adopting a qualitative research design, it will be carried out over one academic year. Once participants are identified school-wide, a focus group will initially be conducted to explore themes in faculty experiences. This will be followed by narrative interviews, hoping to capture personal identity shifts over time. Experience-centred narrative analysis will be used to interpret findings. The analysis will primarily follow an inductive approach (Cohen et al., 2018), meaning that conclusions will emerge from the data itself rather than starting with a hypothesis and seeking to confirm it.
I believe the results of this research will be of interest to all academic staff, with the additional ‘bonus’ that the experience will have a ‘cathartic’ effect (Cain et al, 2023, p1239) on the participants, who will be able to reflect and freely talk about a topic that is creating concern. However, the implications of this research extend beyond individual faculty experiences to institutional policies and continuous professional development (CPD) initiatives. Understanding the evolving nature of professional identities can help in the design of AI-related training courses which address not only technical proficiency, but also ethical and cultural concerns associated with AI adoption in higher education. Finally, this study aligns with the growing institutional focus on digital education strategies, teacher and student well-being, quality assurance, and innovation in teaching in UK universities, aspects which professional identity research could contribute to enhancing (Halal Orfali et al, 2024).
Cain, M., Campbell, C. and Coleman, K. (2023) ‘’Kindness and empathy beyond all else’: Challenges to professional identities of Higher Education teachers during COVID-19 times’, Australian educational researcher, 50(4), pp. 1233–1251. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13384-022-00552-1.
Case, A (2010) ‘We are all cyborgs now’, TEDWomen 2010. Available at: https://www.ted.com/talks/amber_case_we_are_all_cyborgs_now?subtitle=en (Accessed 25/11/24)
Cohen, L., Manion, L. and Morrison, K. (2018) Research methods in education: Eighth edition. New York: Routledge.
Day, C. et al. (2006) ‘The personal and professional selves of teachers: stable and unstable identities’, British educational research journal, 32(4), pp. 601–616. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/01411920600775316.
Fassbender, W.J. (2024) ‘“I can almost recognize its voice”: AI and its impact on ethical teacher-centaur labor’, English teaching: practice and critique, 23(1), pp. 104–117. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1108/ETPC-08-2023-0101.
Halal Orfali, C. et al. (2024) ‘How higher education teachers see their professional identity’, Frontiers in education (Lausanne), 9. Available at: https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2024.1429847.
Kurtz, G. et al. (2024) ‘Strategies for Integrating Generative AI into Higher Education: Navigating Challenges and Leveraging Opportunities’, Education sciences, 14(5), pp. 503-. Available at: https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci14050503.
Routley, N. (2023) ‘What is Generative Ai? An AI explains’, World Economic Forum. Available at: https://www.weforum.org/stories/2023/02/generative-ai-explain-algorithms-work/#:~:text=Generative%20AI:%20An%20Introduction,effects%2C%20and%20even%20voice%20acting (Accessed: 23 November 2024).
6 responses to “Cyborgs and Centaurs, and how they inspired my research on the impact of Generative AI on educators’ professional identities in Higher Education.”
An inviting title on a very topical subject. It will be intriguing to understand more about the conceptualisation of ‘cyborgs’ and centaurs’. What role might you say ‘reformed’ professional identities might play in future CVs? Could these show awareness of and adaptability to developing digital technologies?
Hi Bina, thank you for your question. Before I answer, however, by CVs do you mean curriculum vitae? I’m sorry if this is a silly question but I wanted to be sure!
To explain the connection between cyborgs, centaurs and identity very briefly: Thinking about a TED talk I had watched years ago about how we are all cyborgs now, led me to a paper that mentioned teachers as cyborgs, and that in turn led me to another paper on how teachers are more like centaurs than cyborgs when it comes to AI. Having done some research on identity and agency for a past OU module, I realised there was very little research on the effect of GenAI on teacher identity and that piqued my curiosity.
In terms of the concept of reformed identities, it isn’t actually ‘reformed’ but ‘re-formed’ as in changing, mutating. It’s only a hyphen, but I think it changes the meaning. I’m still doing research on professional identities in education but my educated guess is that awareness and adaptability to developing technologies are two aspects that will come up.
This is a very interesting topic, I’m looking forward to hearing more at the conference. I work at two HE institutions and I find quite different cultures around Gen AI in each. Will your research be focussed on one institution, or looking at a range?
This is a really interesting area to look into and I agree that AI has the potential to drastically change approaches and identities.
Do you think that there will be a difference in opinion and experience between newer faculty and those that have been in higher education for a while? It would be interesting to see the two different views
Hi Maria, I am looking forward to hearing your presentation. Working in H.E. I am interested in what is acceptable for students using A.I. and how does it aid or hinder their educational development to prevent them becoming reliant on A.I.?
There’s an old saying that “you can’t teach an old dog new tricks” implying, I think, that people quickly become set in their ways and are reluctant to change.
Obviously AI will be / is a huge incentive to change… I’m looking forward to hearing whether HE staff will/have changed!