How teachers build trust with students in the presence of GenAI

Abstract

Trust is a prerequisite for successful learning. From previous work we know that teachers use multiple strategies to build trust with students – for example to demonstrate knowledge, skill and competence, or showing interpersonal care and concern. We also know from students that they trust teachers who ask, listen, and respond. But since we conducted those studies, Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) tools have become universally available and are now used by students and teachers. Although both groups are well aware that GenAI is likely used both within their own and in the other group, there are only few conversations between teachers and students where either talk transparently and in detail about how they use GenAI. We suspect that the presence of GenAI – fuelled by a lack of conversations about use – influences trust in the relationship between teachers and students. We conducted focus group interviews with teachers at LU to hear about their experience with and perspective on GenAI usage, both their own and their students’, and to understand the impact that they think the presence of GenAI has on their relationships with students. We find that teachers generally think a lot about GenAI and their influence on teaching and assessment practices but are often unsure what to do about them. In this manuscript, we link these uncertainties to our previous work on trust-building and present a collection of suggested “trust moves” based on what teacher report doing already or think might work, to start the conversation of how we can make sure to continue building trusting relationships with students.