FOSIL, Education and School Libraries

Elizabeth Hutchinson

Welcome to our podcast where we hope to help you engage with the content on the FOSIL Group Website, introduce you to people using FOSIL in schools and most of all just have a conversation about the role of school librarians within education. elizabethhutchinson.substack.com

  1. MAY 9

    Generative AI through Inquiry (Part 4)

    Welcome to FOSIL, Education and School Libraries Podcast, where Darrly Toerien and I (Elizabeth Hutchinson) talk about what we feel is important in school libraries and education now. Today’s discussion continues from last week’s podcast, which was part 3 of this conversation, where we focused on the INVESTIGATE and CONSTRUCT stage of FOSIL. This week, we focus on the WONDER stages in relation to learning. Highlighting the importance of students being able to create their own questions and that access to AI does not help in this area… we explain why we think this… “Only a person who has questions has knowledge” (Hans-Georg Gadamer). Links talked about in this podcast Hans-Georg Gadamer, Truth and Method, 1960. PPT presentation for the ALiVE! Library conversation with David Loertscher: SJSU 2026 | ALiVE Library | Teaching Inquiry as Conversation. This includes a preview of Chapter 2 of our book, Inquiry as Conversation (or QR code below). Of relevance to the Podcast, the preview includes the following: * Inquiry as Conversation Is Driven by Questioning * Inquiry as Conversation Leads Beyond Questioning to Interaction This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit elizabethhutchinson.substack.com

    51 min
  2. Generative AI through Inquiry (Part 3)

    APR 20

    Generative AI through Inquiry (Part 3)

    Welcome to FOSIL, Education and School Libraries Podcast, where Darrly Toerien and I (Elizabeth Hutchinson) talk about what we feel is important in school libraries and education now. Today’s discussion continues from last week’s podcast, which was part 2 of this conversation, where we focused on the CONNECT stage of FOSIL. This week, we focus on the INVESTIGATE and CONSTRUCT stages in relation to Gen AI. Highlighting the importance of students being able to think, write and analyse information for themselves. We cover age restrictions, duty of care and what we really want our students to engage in learning. Links talked about in this podcast * Frank Landymore, Analysis Finds That Google’s AI Overviews Are Providing Misinformation at a Scale Possibly Unprecedented in the History of Human Civilization (8 April 2026) * BBC, Largest study of its kind shows AI assistants misrepresent news content 45% of the time – regardless of language or territory (22 October 2025) * Pedro Noguera, dean of the USC Rossier School of Education, Educators should seriously consider a pause on AI in classrooms (04/09/26) * The AI School Librarian, Should Schools Pause AI? The Question We Cannot Ignore Right Now (17 April 2026) We would love to hear what you think of this podcast… Do you find it useful? Are they enjoyable? Informative? Please do comment below… share your thoughts on our discussion. What do you think Generative AI is bringing to your school? Do you have any questions you would like us to consider? All comments welcome! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit elizabethhutchinson.substack.com

    47 min
  3. Generative AI Through Inquiry (Part 2)

    MAR 23

    Generative AI Through Inquiry (Part 2)

    Welcome to FOSIL, Education and School Libraries Podcast, where Darrly Toerien and I (Elizabeth Hutchinson) talk about what we feel is important in school libraries and education now. Today's discussion continues from last week's podcast, which was part 1 of this conversation, where we discussed the importance of preserving human voice in education. In this chat, we cover the importance of helping students cultivate curiosity about learning without AI, so that when they do use it, they have an understanding of where it may be taking them. We ask 3 questions for school librarians to consider:- * Am I teaching something? * Am I teaching something using AI? * Am I teaching AI? This focus leads our conversation forward where we consider the importance of FOSIL’s CONNECT stage… I’m afraid we enjoy our conversation too much and once again we ran out of time. We hope you enjoy listening to where this took us. Next time we will focus on the INVESTIGATE and CONSTRUCT stage in relation to Gen AI. Links talked about in this podcast * Alfred Guy quotation from Inside Yale’s Quiet Reckoning with AI. * For Jane Rosenzweig, see Writing Hacks (her Blog) and The Important Work: Teaching Writing in the Age of AI (which she curates). * Paulo Freire quotation from Pedagogy of the Oppressed in “Human Beings! Human Beings!” An Open Letter to Educators on the Dangers of AI, by Ursula Wolfe-Rocca. * BBC news article about AI assistants misrepresenting the news is Largest study of its kind shows AI assistants misrepresent news content 45% of the time – regardless of language or territory. * Sam Altman Addresses BlackRock U.S. Infrastructure Summit | March 11, 2026 | AC15 (see from 10m22s for the bit about intelligence being a chargeable utility). We would love to hear what you think of this podcast… Do you find it useful? Are they enjoyable? Informative? Please do comment below… share your thoughts on our discussion. What do you think Generative AI is bringing to your school? Do you have any questions you would like us to consider? All comments welcome! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit elizabethhutchinson.substack.com

    48 min
  4. Generative AI through inquiry (Part 1)

    MAR 2

    Generative AI through inquiry (Part 1)

    Welcome to FOSIL Education and School Libraries, a conversation about liberal education, signature inquiry, and how generative AI fits, or doesn’t, into real classroom practice. This episode follows on from last week’s podcast, Clarifying the purpose of education, explains the Year 9 Signature Work inquiry: an interdisciplinary, schoolwide project embedded in English that builds thoughtful reading, writing, and speaking skills and culminates in a spoken presentation and Q&A. It contrasts authentic human texts (like Laudato Si’) with AI-generated summaries, raising concerns about AI’s tendency to flatten voice and strip nuance. We argue that tools must be judged against clear educational aims: supporting student attention, authentic authorship, and the dialogic process of learning. * Eric O. Springsted -- discussing Simone Weil’s notion of attention in Attention, Availability, and the Reading of Books (2025). * Janet Salmons and the flattening of language in Finding Your Voice in a Ventriloquist’s World – AI and Writing (2025). * Claudio Nastruzzi and semantic ablation in Why AI writing is so generic, boring, and dangerous: Semantic ablation (2026). * Jane Rosenzweig (2022) on why we are not doing the thinking if a machine is doing the writing in The Fight About AI (2025) by Christopher Newfield. Please subscribe so you don’t miss our next episode, which explores practical ways (or limits) for using generative AI at each stage of inquiry. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit elizabethhutchinson.substack.com

    39 min
  5. Clarifying the purpose of education

    FEB 23

    Clarifying the purpose of education

    I am always grateful to have time to chat with Darryl Toerien about school libraries, FOSIL and inquiry. Today, we start to explore the need to clarify the purpose of education, especially in relation to the growing concern about adopting new technologies, including AI, in our schools. I personally find it very helpful to have these learning conversations. To be able to voice my thoughts and ideas certainly helps me clarify my understanding. I hope you learn from this conversation too… * ACCESS Article -- AI: The perfect storm that rages against the evolving dynamism through which we form ourselves as human beings (Darryl Toerien, 2025). * Anne Lutz Fernandez -- Resisting AI Mania in Schools - Part I (2025a), Part II (2025b), and Part III (2025c). * Sarah Winnicki -- I would be so ashamed to use generative AI, here’s why (2026). * Jenny Toerien -- Blanchelande College 2026 | AI and Academic Integrity (Parent Presentation). Follow and subscribe to listen to the next episode, which focuses on concrete strategies. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit elizabethhutchinson.substack.com

    34 min
  6. Update: FOSIL, Books and the Institute of Advancement of Inquiry.

    2025-12-20

    Update: FOSIL, Books and the Institute of Advancement of Inquiry.

    It has been a while since Darryl and I got together, October half term to be precise, so we thought it was time to give you an update. We both have books coming out and Darryl wanted to tell you more about the institute so we hope you enjoy! FOSIL Symposium - The Institute announcement. Focus on Inquiry with Prof. Dianne Oberg and Prof. Jennifer Branch-Mueller We both wish you the blessings of the season and hope you have a wonderful Christmas and New Year. We both look forward to sharing more with you in 2026 This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit elizabethhutchinson.substack.com

    23 min

  7. 2025-07-19

    Inquiry Learning: Can Schools Do It Without Libraries?

    We start this podcast with an update. Where are we now with FOSIL and inquiry learning? If you want to skip this part and just listen to our focused discussion, please start at 12.09m. We are heading back to the FOSIL Symposium that we ran in Feb this year to discuss something that has been on my mind. David Harrow from AKS Lytham did a presentation about the use of inquiry and particularly FOSIL in his school. There was not much talk about the use of the librarian and it got me wondering… Do schools need a library and a librarian to use FOSIL? We would love to hear your thoughts on this so if you have any please do post a comment. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit elizabethhutchinson.substack.com

    43 min

  8. 2025-04-23

    Beyond the Symposium: The Future of School Libraries and Inquiry Learning

    In this episode of FOSIL Education and School Libraries, we reflect on the key ideas and developments following the recent FOSIL Symposium. With support from the likes of David Loertscher and members of the FOSIL Group, we discuss the growing role of inquiry in teaching and learning, and how school libraries are adapting and contributing in meaningful ways. We also introduce new initiatives like the open access journal Learning Hub and the Institute for the Advancement of Inquiry. Tune in to hear how school librarians are continuing to support thoughtful, inquiry-based education. From the FOSIL Symposium - AKS Lytham, Jannath Khanom and Ruth Maloney https://fosil.org.uk/forums/forum/fosil-presentations/2025-symposium/ Learning Hub journal, which includes the multimedia article Creative Commons Reboot of the FOSIL-based Heroic Inquiry Cycle, by Darryl Toerien and Hugh Rose. ALiVE! Library Initiative Interview with Darryl and Jenny Toerien by Dr. David Loertscher for School Library Central:"Welcome to the School Library Central Youtube Channel, created by SJSU iSchool Professor Dr. David V. Loertscher to support advances, research, information, resources, and leaders who are transforming traditional school libraries into vibrant centers of teaching and learning in K-12 education." This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit elizabethhutchinson.substack.com

    33 min
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Welcome to our podcast where we hope to help you engage with the content on the FOSIL Group Website, introduce you to people using FOSIL in schools and most of all just have a conversation about the role of school librarians within education. elizabethhutchinson.substack.com

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