Teaching history of education in the ‘Age of AI’: Synthesising biography, history and autoethnography

The role of technology in education has always been a controversial topic, and remains the focus of critical debate (Çiftçi, 2026; McGarr, 2026). In recent years, the re-emergence of artificial intelligence – and particularly the growth of generative AI – has introduced a new and focal point of critique in this discussion. Undoubtedly, technology offers significant potential to enhance the teaching of history of education. For example, in the context of the history of Irish education specifically, the growing corpus of online contemporary video and televisual material, e.g. the Irish state broadcaster RTÉ Archives exemplifies how internet technology can be used to enhance the teaching of history of education.
Technology can enable professors and teachers of Irish educational history to present their lectures and seminars in ways that come closer to evoking the actual, authentic contemporary context. This can be especially engaging when teaching pre-service students in initial teacher education who do not teach history-related disciplines. This presentation explores attempts to design alternative and authentic assessment in history of education – specifically, in undergraduate and postgraduate initial teacher education contexts. This has entailed developing assessments based on interactive orals, biographical and autoethnographic approaches. The aim of this session is to stimulate discussion around how we can conceptualise and design authentic, creative and formative assessment in history of education. The discussion will illustrate the potential and challenges of synthesising biography, history and autoethnography for assessment in the ‘Age of AI’.

Çiftçi, A. (2026). “A socio-political critique of educational technology and the digital reshaping of pedagogy.” Educational Philosophy and Theory, 58(1–2), 116–129. https://doi.org/10.1080/00131857.2025.2562208.

McGarr, O. (2026). “The corporate branding of schools in Ireland: why the absence of a critical debate?” Irish Educational Studies, 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1080/03323315.2026.2614090.