🪞 Reflection Prompts for Inclusive, Culturally Safe AI Teaching

These prompts help you test whether AI is supporting identity, belonging, and learning — not undermining them.

Use them individually, in team PLD, or as discussion starters with learners.

For Educators — Identity, Safety, Inclusion

• Whose voices does AI amplify — and whose does it silence?

• Can every learner see themselves in the examples this AI tool produces?

• Does this activity preserve learner voice, or homogenise it?

• Does AI reduce or increase cognitive load for my learners?

• What assumptions am I making about who can use AI confidently?

• Am I teaching learners how to question AI, not just how to use it?

For Curriculum & Course Design

• Where in this programme could AI widen participation?

• Where could it unintentionally deepen inequity or bias?

• Should this task include a “voice reflection” or “whakapapa of ideas” component?

• Are my examples grounded in Aotearoa — or generic global outputs?

• Does this course normalise assistive AI as part of Universal Design for Learning?

For Assessment

• Does this task assess a human skill that AI cannot replace?

• Does this assessment uplift mana or risk diminishing it?

• Where do I need to clearly mark “tapu spaces” (AI-free zones)?

• Does AI support thinking — or obscure it?

• Have I built in a simple process check: “How did AI help or hinder you?”

For Working With Learners

• Do learners feel safe asking questions about AI without fear of being judged?

• Do students know when and why I use AI as a teacher?

• Have I invited students to critique bias in AI outputs?

• What cultural knowledge do learners bring that the AI cannot see?

• Have we co-created simple AI use agreements for our class?

For Institutional Teams (PLD, SLT, Programme Leads)

• Where is AI already being used “under the radar”?

• Who benefits most — and least — from AI-enabled teaching?

• What supports are missing for Māori, Pacific, ESOL, neurodivergent, or disabled learners?

• Do we have a shared understanding of safe, inclusive AI use?

• Where do we need policy — and where do we need relationship?

• Are our tools aligned with data sovereignty and cultural safety expectations?

🪶 Kaupapa Māori Lens — Questions That Anchor Practice

These prompts keep the mahi grounded in tikanga, relational ethics, and mana-enhancing practice.

Mana

• Does this learning design allow each learner’s voice and identity to shine?

Whanaungatanga

• Does AI strengthen relationships — or create distance?

Whakapapa

• Can learners trace where ideas, tools, and data come from?

Manaakitanga

• Is care visible in how I introduce, teach, and evaluate AI tools?

Kaitiakitanga

• Am I protecting data, stories, and identity with the same care I protect physical taonga?

Rangatiratanga

• Does this AI practice build learner agency — or dependency?

💭 Whakataukī

“Kei muri i te awe, mapara he tangata ma”

This whakataukī recognises the importance of looking beyond cultural differences to see the person within. It reminds us that behind every face—tattooed or not—is a human being deserving of respect and understanding.

🌺 He Whakakapi – Learning Path Summary & Reflection

Inclusion is not a feature of teaching — it is the teaching.

AI can expand access, amplify voices, and lighten load.

But it can also flatten identity, hide bias, and erase context if left unquestioned.

The measure of good practice is simple:

Does this create more space for people — or more space for the tool?

Inclusive AI practice means:

• Holding identity at the centre

• Designing for belonging, not efficiency

• Letting learners bring their culture, language, and lived experience

• Using AI to open doors, not close them

• Questioning outputs with curiosity, not fear

When we teach this way, AI stops being the story.

People become the story again.

🌿 He Kupu Whakamutunga | Closing Words

“Ko te pae tawhiti whāia kia tata, ko te pae tata whakamaua kia tīna.”

Seek the distant horizon, hold fast to what is already achieved.

As educators in Aotearoa, we are not just adopting new tools — we are shaping a future where identity, culture, and humanity remain intact.

May your teaching:

• Honour every learner’s voice

• Champion diversity

• Question what must be questioned

• And use AI only in ways that uplift mana

Kia māia, kia tika, kia ngākau nui, Go forward with courage, integrity, and a generous heart.

Ka rawe, e hoa — you’ve just completed Learning Path 4. When you’re ready, continue on to Learning Path 5.

Nāku iti nei, nā.