Date
Publisher
arXiv
Generative AI (GenAI) is rapidly entering K-12 classrooms, offering teachers
new ways for teaching practices. Yet GenAI models are often trained on
culturally uneven datasets, embedding a "default culture" that often misaligns
with local classrooms. To understand how teachers navigate this gap, we defined
the new concept Cultural Distance (the gap between GenAI's default cultural
repertoire and the situated demands of teaching practice) and conducted
in-depth interviews with 30 K-12 teachers, 10 each from South Africa, Taiwan,
and the United States, who had integrated AI into their teaching practice.
These teachers' experiences informed the development of our three-level
cultural distance framework. This work contributes the concept and framework of
cultural distance, six illustrative instances spanning in low, mid, high
distance levels with teachers' experiences and strategies for addressing them.
Empirically, we offer implications to help AI designers, policymakers, and
educators create more equitable and culturally responsive GenAI tools for
education.
Study at a glance
- Question: How do teachers navigate cultural differences between generative AI tools and their local classrooms?
- Setting and data: 30 K-12 teachers who integrated AI into teaching, 10 each from South Africa, Taiwan, and the United States.
- Method: In-depth interviews
Why it matters
Generative AI is rapidly entering K-12 classrooms, yet models are often trained on culturally uneven datasets that embed a "default culture." This default culture often misaligns with the situated demands of local classrooms and everyday teaching practices.
Key findings
- Among 30 K-12 teachers in South Africa, Taiwan, and the United States, educators experienced misalignments between generative AI's default culture and local classroom demands.
- The cultural gap between generative AI's default repertoire and classroom demands spans three distinct levels: low, mid, and high distance.
- Teachers developed specific strategies to navigate and bridge these low, mid, and high levels of cultural distance in their everyday teaching.
Summary drafted with AI from the paper’s abstract and may contain errors. See the full paper for details.
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