Power Of Youth In Co-Creating Education

The UNESCO International Day of Education 2026 (24 January) theme “The power of youth in co-creating education” recognises the role of youth as agents of change.

This theme is not just about updating textbooks; it’s an urgent call to action. In a world saturated with AI-generated content, from plausible text to invented facts, the most vital skills are no longer about knowing the answers, but about knowing how to question, evaluate, and create. Critical pedagogy (Braa, & Callero, 2006; Freire, 1970) is a philosophy of education and a social movement that uses ideas from critical theory to examine and transform education and culture. Learners taking ownership of their learning. Learning about critical literacy (Freire & Macedo, 2005) in the age of AI (Billings, 2024) we must transition from viewing AI as a "magic box" of answers to a tool that requires constant human oversight, being the human-in-the-loop. Inspiring learners to explore technologies and AI responsibly while building their own knowledge for their context.

Critical literacy is a transformative pedagogical practice that empowers learners to "read the world" (Freire, 1970; Freire & Macedo, 2005) by moving beyond simple comprehension to interrogate power dynamics, biases, and social justice. Critical literacy enables learners to transition from being passive recipients of information to active co-creators of their own learning and education. As well as being able to “read the word” (Freire, 1970; Freire & Macedo, 2005) or text with understanding and critical meaning, diligently building their own content and contextual knowledge.

Teachers adapting and transforming their teaching and learning practices to align with the vision of the International Day of Education 2026, transition from being "directors of knowledge" to "facilitators of learning" (UNESCO, 2026). By treating learners as agents of change and co-creators, educators can help meet the aspirations and technological needs of the youth population.

1. Youth as Agents of Change

Critical literacy directly aligns with the International Day of Education 2026 goal of recognising youth as drivers of social transformation in the age of AI.

• Moving to Action: The final stage of critical literacy is "taking action," where learners apply their newfound knowledge to promote justice and equity in their communities.

• Digital Citizenship: In the digital age, critical media literacy empowers youth to combat misinformation and use technology as a tool for "good," amplifying their voices to influence global policy.

• Accountability and Advocacy: Critically literate youth should hold institutions and organisations accountable by analysing policies and drafting proposals for change, such as revising school rules to reflect democratic principles. Verifying any AI information.

Teacher’s view: Youth as Agents of Change

Critical literacy directly aligns with the International Day of Education 2026 goal of recognising youth as drivers of social transformation.

• Moving to Action: Critical literacy is "taking action," inspiring learners to apply their newfound knowledge to promote justice and equity in their communities, physically and online. Being aware of AI biases and fake news, therefore verifying all information and pointing out or flagging inaccuracies.

• Active Digital Citizenship: In the digital age, emphasise how the learner’s voice is a powerful tool. Inform how critical media literacy empowers youth to combat misinformation and use technology as a tool for "good," amplifying their voices to positive change and influencing global policy.

• Demand Accountability and Advocacy: Inform learners how critically literate can hold institutions accountable by analysing policies, for the physical and digital environments, and drafting proposals for change, such as revising school rules to reflect democratic principles, advocating for responsible and respectful digital and AI use.

2a. Learners as Co-Creators of Classroom Culture and Norms

Critical literacy encourages learners to take ownership and ensure the classroom is the best place for each individual to learn, seeing themselves as active co-creators of the learning space.

• Establish Shared Norms: Speaking up and helping create the guidelines for how all with participate and behave. The rules are our rules, which makes each class member responsible for following them.

• Respond to Democratic Management: Observing the teacher using "invitational language" (like "How about we try..." or "May I suggest...") instead of "command and control" language ("You must..."). Tells learners that their engagement is valued, not just their obedience, and it encourages them to take the initiative in their own learning.

• Prioritise Identity Safety: Learners contribute to a community where each individual feels safe and respected. Each learner can express their own cultural values and perspectives, knowing and valuing that each person is a legitimate, respected and important part of classroom culture. Each individual engages by bringing their whole self to class, feeling respected and more confident in challenging ideas and being creative.

Teacher’s view: Co-Create Classroom Culture and Norms

Instead of imposing top-down rules, teachers can involve learners in designing the classroom environment and expectations.

• Establish Shared Norms: On the first day, ask learners to generate the guidelines for participation and behaviour.

• Democratic Management: Shift from "command and control" language (e.g., "you must") to "invitational" language (e.g., "may I suggest") to encourage engagement rather than mere compliance.

• Identity Safety: Build a community where learners feel safe to express their diverse cultural values and perspectives.

2b. Co-create Classroom Culture and Norms with AI

This is about setting rules not just for people, but for how we use AI tools ethically, so we can learn better together.

• Establish Norms for AI and Peer Collaboration: As learners, collectively create the rules for using AI responsibly, to ensure our co-creation is critical and ethical:

  • Authenticating and Verification: each learner must rigorously fact-check anything AI generates and find at least two reliable, non-AI sources to prove it's true. Learners realise their own critical judgment is the final filter.

  • Transparent Citation: Learners agree to clearly state whenever they've used an AI tool, whether it's for brainstorming, summarising, or drafting, so everyone knows how the work was created.

  • Defining Contribution: Discuss and agree on what level of AI input is acceptable for different projects. Make sure the final product reflects human input, quality control, and is original, accurate, and ethical.

• Expect Invitational and Ethical Language: Observing the teacher use "how might we ethically use AI to support our research?" instead of just saying "don't use AI." This helps learners think deeply about why they're using the tool and encourages them to be thoughtful and ethical digital users.

• Prioritising Identity Safety when using AI tools involves anchoring education in the human qualities of discernment and critical consciousness. 

• Critical Consciousness: Unmasking Algorithmic Bias - This is the core of protecting identity, as it teaches youth to analyse the social and political implications of AI online, and thinking, before posting or re-sharing.

• Identifying Hidden Assumptions: Learners analyse information from AI serves and research if voices are missing from its training data. Read the AI tools T&Cs (Terms and Conditions), what data is it trained on, what data are they collecting, what are they doing with your data? For example: Testing AI image generators for stereotypes (e.g., of a "leader" or "doctor") to see if they over-represent certain genders or ethnicities.

• Agency Over Algorithms: Learners understand that AI is not neutral; it reflects and can perpetuate systemic inequalities and biases (such as "African Bias" (Pasipamire & Abton Muroyiwa, 2024) from a lack of local data). Critically conscious youth hold technology accountable.

• Discernment -critically evaluate, actively and diligently fact-check to protect against accepting flawed or biased output as truth.

• Be skeptical by being a proactive fact-checker of AI "hallucinates" (invents facts) and bias. As well as learning content and contextual information and general knowledge from reliable, authenticated sources. Growing own knowledge.

• Proactively verifying information, fact-checking AI by finding contrary information from diverse, reputable, non-AI sources to establish a "baseline truth" and avoid "cognitive offloading."

• Understanding privacy about data usage, personal information and privacy, realising shared data can compromise identity safety, (such as using open wifi networks).

• Learn about Data Privacy, know that personal data shared with AI often has few safeguards and may be misused, and that AI "remembers" what is inputted whether images, text or numbers, whatever is added or typed.

Teacher’s view: Co-create Classroom Culture and Norms with AI

Instead of imposing top-down rules for working with AI and peers, teachers can involve learners in designing the collaborative environment and expectations to foster critical and ethical co-creation.

• Establish Norms for AI and Peer Collaboration: Ask learners to collectively generate guidelines for responsible co-creation. These norms should cover:

  • Authenticating and Verification: Requiring learners to rigorously fact-check AI outputs and verify information using multiple, non-AI sources.

  • Transparent Citation: Establishing a clear standard for transparently citing any AI tools used in the process (e.g., for brainstorming, drafting, or summarising).

  • Defining Contribution: Leading a discussion with learners on deciding whether contributions from all group members (human and AI) are acceptable, or if the final product must reflect only human input and quality control, ensuring the shared work is original, accurate, and ethical.

• Shift Management Language: Move from "command and control" language (e.g., "you must not use AI for this part") to "invitational" and ethical language (e.g., "how might we ethically use AI to support our research?") to encourage deep engagement rather than mere compliance.

• Prioritising digital Identity Safety when using AI tools involves anchoring lessons and education in the human qualities of discernment and critical consciousness. These qualities help students navigate the risks of algorithmic bias and data misuse.

• Develop critical consciousness by unmasking algorithmic bias. This is the core of protecting identity, as it teaches youth to analyse the social and political implications of AI.

• Identifying Hidden Assumptions: Teach students to analyse whose interests an AI serves and whose voices are missing from its training data. This includes testing AI image generators for stereotypes (e.g., of a "leader" or "doctor") to see if they over-represent certain genders or ethnicities.

• Agency Over Algorithms: Help students understand that AI is not neutral; it reflects and can perpetuate systemic inequalities and biases (such as "African Bias" from a lack of local data). Critically conscious youth can hold technology accountable.

• Empower learner discernment, inspire them to regularly conduct critical evaluation and fact-checking as these are the essential filters to protect against accepting flawed or biased output as truth.

• Modeling Skepticism: As a teacher, model skepticism by publicly demonstrating how AI "hallucinates" (invents facts) and is biased.

• Verifying Information: Teach students to fact-check AI by finding contrary information from diverse, reputable, non-AI sources to establish a "baseline truth" and avoid "cognitive offloading."

• Understanding Privacy: Educate learners on data usage and privacy, as shared data can compromise identity safety.

• Data Awareness: Run lessons on Data Privacy, explaining that personal data shared with AI often has few safeguards and may be misused, and that AI "remembers" what they type.

3. Learners Actively Being the "Human-in-the-Loop"

When learners apply critical literacy to using AI it means they are the “human-in-the-loop.”  They actively and skeptically investigate everything AI produces, viewing AI as a "co-pilot" or partner that works alongside them to enhance or refine the work, never as a replacement for our own knowledge or critical expertise. 

• Be Skeptical: We know that AI can "hallucinate" (invent facts), show bias in many different forms, may not understand context, and make mistakes. It is their responsibility to rigorously check, verify, and question the accuracy of its output.

• Focus on the Process, Not the Product: Because AI can easily generate a final answer or product, learners focus on the process of critical thinking and investigation. The focus is on how they use the AI and verify its results, rather than just the final deliverable.

 Teacher’s view: Teacher Demonstrates and Models Being the "Human-in-the-Loop"

As a teacher, your first role is to model a skeptical and investigative mindset with the use of AI.  Use AI as a "co-pilot," working alongside you, not a replacement for expertise.

• Model Skepticism: Publicly demonstrate that AI "hallucinates" (invents facts), is biased and makes mistakes.

• Demonstrate how the use of AI is cited or described

• Shift Evaluation: Move away from assessing final "products", which AI can easily generate and towards assessing the process of critical thinking.

4. Learners as Co-Creators of Curriculum and Lesson Design

When learners apply critical literacy, they gain the agency to reshape their learning environments.

• Developing Collaborative Norms: Learners co-create classroom rules and research steps, ensuring the educational process reflects their needs and values.

• Designing Research Topics: Through frameworks like Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR), learners identify community-based issues, such as climate justice or inequality, and conduct their own research to propose solutions.

• Creating "Real-World" Texts: Learners alongside traditional essays to produce "authentic" media, such as social media posts, memes, or research letters, to influence their local government or peers.

• Co-create Critically and Ethically: When working with both peers and AI, engage as responsible co-creators. Authenticating and rigorously verifying content, transparently citing any AI tools used, deciding whether all group members (human and AI) or only humans contribute to the final product's quality, ensuring the shared work is original, accurate, and ethical.

• Proactively and practical identifying strategies using critical literacy concepts to evaluate AI limitations, such as detecting bias, verifying information and understanding privacy

Teacher’s view: Learners as Co-Creators of Curriculum and Lesson Design

Teachers can provide learners with a "consultant" role in their own education, allowing them to influence what and how they learn.

• Choice Boards: Offer choice boards or lists of topics, allowing learners to select assignments that align with their personal interests or future career identities.

• Learner-Led Content: Task learners with curating reading lists or media under a broad theme decided by the teacher.

• Background Probes: Before starting a unit, ask learners what they already know and what they want to learn to ensure the curriculum feels relevant to them.

• Rethinking Classroom Tasks - To foster critical engagement, change how you use AI in assignments:

• Prompt for Reasoning, Not Answers: Instead of asking for a solution, ask learners to prompt the AI to "Explain the reasoning behind this method" or "Compare and contrast two concepts".

• Use the AI Assessment Scale (Perkins, Roe, & Furze, 2024): Clearly define when AI is permitted. For example:

  • Level 1: No AI allowed; rely on core skills.

  • Level 4: AI completes a task, but the learner must provide a critical commentary evaluating the output.

• Alternative "AI-Proof" Assessments: Use oral exams, real-time writing in class, or Socratic debates where learners must defend their ideas without digital help.

• The impact of co-creating with both humans and AI is a shift from automation to augmentation, where technology handles the scale and speed while humans provide the direction, ethics, and "pedagogy of wonder" (The "pedagogy of wonder" is when the learners’ curiosity about the possibilities of artificial intelligence inspire them to use the technology to its fullest potential (Gill-Simmen, 2025).

Teach learners practical strategies for critical literacy to evaluate AI limitations through specific, hands-on activities:

• Detecting Bias:

  • Use AI image generators with learners and analyse the results for stereotypes (e.g., "Ask the AI to generate a 'doctor' or 'leader' and discuss if it over-represents certain genders or ethnicities").

  • Discuss "African Bias" (Pasipamire & Abton Muroyiwa, 2024), explore how the lack of local data in AI training sets can lead to biased outputs against African contexts.

• Verifying Information:

  • Teach learners to fact-check AI by finding contrary information from diverse, reputable sources (articles, videos, or media with opposing views).

  • Practice "Authentification" (data integrity and multi-factor authentication and certification (CNC, 2026): If an AI provides a fact, learners must find at least two non-AI sources to verify it.

• Understanding Privacy:

  • Teach learners that AI "remembers" what they type.

  • Run lessons on Data Privacy, explaining that personal data shared with AI often has few safeguards and may be misused.

5. Disrupting the "Power Balance" of Knowledge

Critical literacy shifts the classroom from a one-sided lecture to a site of mutual inquiry. The International Day of Education's theme is that learners are co-creators of their own education. This means learners can't let a textbook, a teacher, or even a machine have all the power over what the individual learner knows. Critical literacy gives learners the tools to challenge the old power balance, their own experiences and with AI assistance.

• Interrogating Authority: learners are taught to question "whose voices are represented and whose are left out" in their textbooks and media.

• Challenging the Status Quo: Instead of accepting information as neutral, learners analyse how language and curriculum can reinforce existing power structures.

• Validating Lived Experience: By connecting classroom content to their own cultural identities and community problems, learners' personal histories become part of the legitimate curriculum.

• Interrogate the Algorithmic Authority (Discernment): View AI as a "co-pilot," not the ultimate authority. When an AI gives a learner an instant answer, the learner’s job is to pause and apply rigorous discernment. Encourage learners to refuse to commit "cognitive offloading” by not outsourcing their thinking. Instead, learners should fact-check the AI's output against at least two credible, non-AI sources to establish the individual’s own baseline truth. Reinforce that individuals are the final human check of their own work, not the machine.

• Challenge Algorithmic Bias (Critical Consciousness): Learners' awareness that AI is not neutral. The AI responses are based on the data it is trained on, which may be biased or limited. Learners use their own Critical Consciousness to ask: Whose stories are invisible in the AI's data? Whose interests does this algorithm serve? My task is to move beyond analysing bias in a written text and actively interrogate the systemic bias hidden in the code, ensuring the technology I use does not reinforce old inequalities.

• Empower Marginalised Voices with AI (Creativity & Agency): Learners use AI as a strategic springboard for my own ideas and communication. By using careful, critical prompts, learners direct the AI to help generate content and media that specifically validates the learner’s cultural identity and the issues in their community. Learners actively take a potentially biased tool and transform it into one that promotes equity and justice, using their own human creativity and agency to co-create a better narrative.

 Teacher’s view: Shifting the "power balance" in the classroom 

Implement Learner-Led Pedagogy.  Empower learners to take ownership of their learning process.

• The Socratic Dialogues: Use collaborative questioning dialogues where learners ask and answer open-ended questions about a text, fostering active listening and critical thinking.

• Peer-to-Peer Teaching: Invite learners who have mastered a concept to explain it to their peers, treating them as experts in their own right.

• Joint Assessment: Involve learners in designing assessment rubrics or choosing between different methods (e.g., essay vs. presentation) to demonstrate their learning.

 Teacher’s view: Foster Civic Engagement and Real-World Problem Solving

Recognise the youth as agents of change, education must transcend the classroom and connect to societal transformation.

• Community-Based Projects: Challenge learners to identify and solve a real problem in their own community, such as environmental or social issues.

• Analyse Change-Makers: Have learners research "teen change agents" they admire to understand the myriad ways young people effect change.

• Action Research: Encourage learners (and teachers themselves) to engage in "action research" to provide solutions that improve learner success, such as systematic inquiry into classroom or school challenges.

So reflecting on all this - Our goal, as teachers, is to move learners from "knowing" to "doing" and "evaluating." Encourage them to use AI to build knowledge, not to be a shortcut for thinking and learning. Our transition from "directors of knowledge" to "facilitators of learning" is essential to achieve change. Shifting learner engagement from simply "knowing" information to actively "doing" (applying knowledge) and critically evaluating and assessing. 

In this age of AI the change reframes technology's role from automation, where learners use AI to do the work, to augmentation. Learners interact with the AI technology to assist in handling the scale and speed of information processing, while the learner provides the essential direction of the interaction and engagement, ensure ethical usage, fact-checking, bias detection and verification are conducted.  While actively participating in "pedagogy of wonder" being curious when using technology. 

Facilitating learners to use AI to build knowledge and critical skills, not as a shortcut for thinking and learning.

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