by Moira Cullings
moira.cullings@theleaven.org
LEAWOOD — One antidote to concerns surrounding the rapid rise of AI sits at the heart of Catholic schools, according to Adam Kronk and Patrick Schmadeke.
Their mission is to uphold the dignity of each student, which “we believe exists because they’re made of the image and likeness of God,” said Kronk, “and not because they’re very productive or very efficient.”
That’s “the first, most primary, most important lens through which to look at the use of AI,” he said.
Kronk is the director and Schmadeke the assistant network director, pastoral ministry, of the DELTA Network, which is part of the Institute for Ethics and the Common Good at the University of Notre Dame.
They presented after the commissioning Mass for archdiocesan educators at St. Michael the Archangel Church in Leawood on Aug. 5.
The Mass was celebrated by Archbishop Shawn McKnight, with priests from around the archdiocese concelebrating.
During his homily, the archbishop posed a question: What makes a good teacher?
“It’s teachers who know how to foster and form good relationships with their students — to learn how to teach in a way that is not only focused on the facts but of the growth of the human being,” he said.
Many of the principals, teachers, counselors and chaplains in attendance heard from the new superintendent of archdiocesan schools, Dr. Erin Vader, for the first time following the Mass.
She took the opportunity to uplift the educators in their work and counter the narrative often seen on social media apps like Instagram, which says teachers are victims who should be pitied.
“I reject that narrative,” said Vader. “I reject it wholeheartedly as a teacher.
“The teachers I know, the teachers I see, are superheroes. They make miracles out of nothing every day. They find that teeny, tiniest spark in a child and blow it up into a flame.”
Vader said teachers have the unique opportunity to foster the dignity of their students — a theme highlighted by Kronk and Schmadeke.
The pair referenced Pope Leo XIV’s first encyclical, “Magnifica Humanitas” (“Magnificent Humanity”), in which the word dignity appears 105 times.
They utilized the DELTA framework — dignity, embodiment, love, transcendence and agency — to encourage educators to use technology in ways that don’t diminish human agency.
Both emphasized the need for AI literacy — to understand what it can and can’t be used for, like replacing the human relationship students experience in the classroom.
And while AI can be a helpful tool, they said, it can’t replace the inimitable perspective of the learner.
“Our vocation as teachers is not to download all of human knowledge into [a student’s] brain,” said Kronk, “but it’s to enable them to contribute their unique, new thing to the world.”
Catholic school teachers can utilize the advancements in technology without making it the focal point of the mission, said Schmadeke.
“Our culture is sort of a technocratic culture in many respects,” he said. “We are not exempt from the influences of culture just because we’re baptized.
“And so, the hard work of prayer, the hard work of communal discernment, is to identify the ways in which that culture — that technocratic image of the human person — has invaded our own imaginations, and to replace that with [the mission] Jesus is calling us to.”
The educators wrapped up the morning by breaking out into small groups, where they discussed how the DELTA framework might be integrated into their school communities.
