Insights from 1,600 responses and 175 written reflections
TL;DR: Kiwi teachers are using AI not simply to work faster, but to create more capacity for meaningful teaching. They value tools that help them plan, create adaptable resources, navigate curriculum requirements and support diverse learners, while keeping professional judgement firmly in teachers’ hands.
Teachers are not just using AI to produce work faster. They are using it to create more capacity for the parts of teaching that require human judgement, creativity and connection.
Across 1,600~ responses, the most common goal was to create more engaging, meaningful learning for their students.
- 79% wanted more engaging and meaningful learning.
- 73% wanted a more organised, manageable workload.
- 69% wanted help navigating curriculum requirements.
- 68% wanted more time with students.
- 61% wanted to better support learners who were falling behind.
- 60% wanted greater confidence with assessment and reporting.
- 60% wanted to feel less stressed and enjoy teaching more.
- 58% wanted to better challenge capable learners.
Respondents selected an average of 5 goals each. This suggests that teachers see AI as more than a tool for one isolated task. They are looking for support across the interconnected demands of planning, differentiation, resource creation, assessment and administration.
What makes AI appealing to teachers?
We also captured 175 written reflections, which reveal several recurring benefits:
- Resources that fit the class: Instead of searching for a worksheet that is almost suitable, teachers can request material for a particular learning intention, year level, topic or group of learners. This makes scaffolding, extension and differentiation more achievable.
- A strong starting point: Teachers describe turning rough ideas or a “brain dump” into a lesson sequence, report comment, worksheet or communication. AI reduces the difficulty of starting from a blank page while leaving the teacher to refine the result.
- Less repetitive preparation: Planning, slide decks, relief work, worksheets, reports and emails can be drafted much faster. The value is not simply getting more work done, teachers report redirecting that time towards lesson delivery, students, other priorities and life outside school.
- Ideas and cognitive support: Teachers use AI as a sounding board when they feel stuck, overwhelmed or uncertain. It can suggest activities, organise thinking, clarify complex material and identify possibilities the teacher may not have considered.
- New Zealand curriculum relevance: Alignment with the New Zealand Curriculum, local terminology and te reo Māori is repeatedly identified as valuable. Localisation reduces the work of translating generic AI output into something appropriate for an Aotearoa New Zealand classroom.
AI works best as a teaching assistant, not a substitute
The qualitative comments also show what encourages teachers to keep using an AI tool, and what puts them off. Outputs need to be accurate, editable, easy to adapt and responsive to instructions. Teachers were frustrated when AI made errors, produced overly wordy plans, or did not follow their directions as intended.
This reinforces an important point: Teachers value AI most when it supports their professional judgement. Its appeal lies in removing friction from routine tasks, finding relevant information and producing quick first drafts, while teachers remain responsible for deciding what is appropriate for their learners.
For educators, the clearest potential benefit is not simply greater capacity, but what that capacity enables: more room to personalise learning, respond to students and focus on the work that matters most.