The historical politics of automating teacher work and educational technology
In short: Researchers who analyzed Sweden's educational technology history from 1957 to the present found that the debate over automation is fundamentally a debate about the nature of teachers' work. The study shows how promises of labor-saving technologies have been repeatedly promoted alongside research suggesting that automation remains deeply dependent on human labor.
By examining archival and digital materials, the authors show how specific technologies and policies become 'naturalized' over time, a process that can silence critical debate about what automation and AI mean for teachers' work and public education.
The analysis draws on historical and policy materials from Sweden spanning 1957 to the present, so its conclusions about the politics of automating teaching may not generalize beyond that one country's educational system.
Why it matters: The push to automate teaching has a long history of being oversold, even as real automation still relies heavily on human educators.
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