Pre-service teachers’ concerns about social robots in the classroom: A model for development

Abstract

Social robots are being tested in the educational arena with current thinking in two main directions. One is arguing for the benefits of robots in affective and efficient instruction and is more teacher-centered. Within the second, more student-centered oriented, proponents of human uniqueness are raising long-term concerns. Teacher-centeredness and student-centeredness form pedagogical beliefs underpinning teachers’ attitudes guiding technology integration. Limited research has explored teachers’ underlying beliefs and attitudes to social robots, with some presenting mixed feelings identifying some concerns with some identifying more positive attitudes. Preservice education is critical in forming beliefs, and this paper presents a qualitative study of Slovene pre-service pre-primary school and primary classroom pre-service teachers’ attitudes and underlying beliefs. Students were asked to reflect on their perception of social robotic educational technology in which they would highlight at their own discretion the positive, neutral and negative aspects. Students’ reflections predominantly expressed concerns. The research model was designed in part, drawing from participants reflections and on related studies. Previous studies indicated the concerns teachers hold about robotic technology, but lacked a more holistic model. We built a threefold model distinguishing instructional, social-emotional, and legal concerns. Our findings differ from related studies because they identified participants’ negative attitudes and a clear rejection of robot technology with a human-like appearance and social skills in the classroom. Previous student-centered studies reported on single groups of concerns within specific contexts without developing a holistic view relating diverse concerns in one picture. Related teacher-centered studies were arguing for refinements anticipating robot’s social intelligence affordance in the classroom. The participants in our study are not rejecting social robots as such, but in their view, the robot is not granted the status of a social entity capable of engaging in student-centered teaching and taking care of child wellbeing and development. The findings of our study call for action and informed robot development, taking into consideration teachers as co-designers.