Cultivating Creativity: Best Practices for the Art Classroom

I’m currently in a state where AI feels like the greatest thing I’ve ever encountered. I’m finding so many interesting ways to use it in my everyday life. I use it to create recipes based on whatever food I have left in my fridge, to design “productivity” plans on those overwhelming days when I have LOTS to do, and to develop teaching resources that used to take me hours.

I completely understand the hesitation many educators have about AI and the impact it’s having on our classrooms.
Do I still receive essays that are 100% AI-written? Yes.
Are my students using AI to answer every discussion question instead of thinking critically for themselves? Also yes.

But what if… what if we taught them to use it correctly and ethically?

AI is here, and we can’t shy away from it. We can’t hate it. What we can do is learn to live with it and use it safely in our lives. Because when it comes to kids, monkey see, monkey do!

Recently, I asked my students how much they actually know about using AI properly. They were stunned, not dumbfounded, but surprised that teachers seemed to be “anti-AI,” as though using it was almost illegal. That attitude comes from the stigma surrounding AI due to its misuse by students.

As teachers, we need to teach them correctly. Maybe it should be part of Pastoral Care or Form class? Maybe an online course? Or even a standard part of introductory lessons when we meet a new class? One way or another, we need to cross the bridge toward accepting that AI is going to be part of our curriculum and our teaching future.

I’m planning to explore this further in my PhD studies, particularly how teachers’ self-efficacy changes over time as they engage with AI in their classroom practice. Personally, I’ve found it transformative. Like many teachers, I’m incredibly time-poor. My non-contact periods are swallowed by marking, planning, administration, and — as a visual arts teacher — endless tidying, cleaning, setting up, and packing down practical work.

If there’s a tool that can help streamline this, I’m all in. I’ve used AI to help create worksheets, homework tasks, and even practice exams for my students. I also appreciate having an unbiased soundboard for exploring practical ideas or discovering new artists. AI doesn’t just recommend the ones I already know, it identifies artists and artworks based on the specific elements I’m seeking.

I’m curious to know how many other teachers are using AI in their classrooms. How are you integrating it into your practice, and how are you guiding your students toward ethical digital authorship?