How do we build and maintain critical thinking skills and resilience in the age of AI? It’s a question I keep returning to—not because I have a simple answer, but because it touches something I care deeply about: how we learn, how we respond when learning is difficult, and how we make room for both ambition and uncertainty. More and more I am encountering students who do not even bother to learn the content because in their minds, AI can do it for them, so what’s the point?
Making room for the process
One idea I’m sitting with is the balance between learning to fail and the concept of highly successful kids in an independent school. Success matters, but I wonder what it means if learners feel they always have to get things right. How do we encourage them to reach high while also making room for the attempts, questions, and setbacks that can be part of learning?
For me, resilience begins with not getting the right answer right away and being comfortable with that. It can mean thinking of various ways to tackle a problem rather than assuming there is only one route. It also means not tying your self-worth to a grade or comparing yourself to someone else. A result may tell us something about a piece of work; it does not have to define a person.
I think of learning as more than a march toward an answer. There can be enjoyment in the process itself—in trying, reconsidering, and discovering what might work. If we only choose what feels easy, we may miss the chance to grow into something we could not do before.
That feels especially worth considering in the age of AI. My question is not simply how to use a new tool, but how we build and maintain critical thinking and resilience alongside it. I’m interested in how learners can keep exploring problems, considering different approaches, and staying with the work when an answer does not appear immediately. I don’t have a formula for that. The questions themselves are part of what I’m learning to hold. I myself also struggle with the idea of having AI do some of the work for me as I know it can be so easy to let it simply take charge. I worry then if I am letting it do the work for me, am I also not challenging myself?
Learning to facilitate differently
These reflections are shaping the kind of facilitator I hope to become. I want to give people time to learn and try things on their own without stepping in too soon. That can take patience: allowing space for someone to think, experiment, or struggle a little before offering help. I want to get better at noticing when to wait and when to support, rather than assuming that a quick answer from me is always the most useful response.
I also hope people see me as positive and encouraging—someone they can approach with wins and losses, and with frustrations and concerns. Learning is not made up only of successes worth celebrating. There should be room to talk honestly about what felt hard, what did not work, and what someone might try next. Being approachable, to me, means making room for the whole exper
ience rather than only the polished outcome.
Perhaps learning to love the learning journey starts with letting it be a journey: not a straight line to the right answer, but a process of trying, reflecting, and finding another way forward. What helps you make room for resilience, curiosity, and the possibility of failure as part of learning? I’d love to hear what you’re noticing, and to keep exploring these questions together.