Sandra Leaton Gray is Professor of Education Futures at University College London (UK) and conducted research as a PICAIS fellow from September to December 2024 at the Chair of Educational Science with a focus on empirical teaching/learning research at the University of Passau.
Together with her host Prof. Dr Jutta Mägdefrau, she investigated the future of the Bavarian school system and the possible influences of digitalisation and artificial intelligence on it as part of her research project ‘’Education Futures: Visions of Artificial Intelligence, Biometrics and Digital Surveillance within Bavarian schools‘’.
During her public lecture AI-based Cheating and the Need for New Ethical Pedagogies, she presented her research findings and addressed the need for ethics-based approaches in research and teaching to reconcile technological innovation with humanistic values.
During her stay, Professor Leaton Gray organised two successful workshops in which ideas, expectations and concerns regarding the ‘school of the future’ were explored together with student teachers from the University of Passau, teachers and pupils from Leopoldinum Gymnasium Passau. The long-term aim of the project is to develop future scenarios to support educational strategies in order to promote and intensify the dialogue between research, politics and practice.
The scenario planning workshops provided valuable qualitative data and have great potential for applications in schools, teacher training and further academic studies. We look forward to the future developments of the project.
We were delighted to welcome and work with Prof Dr Sandra Leaton Gray as Research-in-Residence Fellow. We hope that she had a pleasant and enriching stay and will come back to Passau soon!