"By 2035 more than 60 per cent of teachers' skills will be redefined by AI"

According to the main findings of the new study 'The teaching profession in tomorrow's school', carried out by EY in cooperation with Sanoma Italia, by 2035, 60% of the skills required of Italian teachers will be redefined by the impact of artificial intelligence (AI), digitisation and the evolution of teaching methodologies. Only 36% of competences will remain stable. The research, based on predictive analysis tools, analyses the evolution of teachers' competences by educational level and subject area, anticipating future trends and obsolescence risks. The findings are illustrated during the conference 'Teachers' skills in the AI era: the new paradigm of education' held today at EY Wavespace Rome, with the participation of representatives from institutions, academia and business.

Carlo Chiattelli, People Consulting Leader at EY Italy, comments: "The impact of artificial intelligence on the educational experience, the arrival of new generations of 'digital natives' and the evolution of job demand are redefining the role and competences of teachers. The results of the study show that, in this new season, the centrality of the teacher within the educational community will be strengthened: if used effectively, AI and new technologies applied to teaching will allow teachers to devote more time to taking care of the human and relational aspect of teaching. Social-behavioural skills - listening skills, empathy, prosociality - will become even more important in an increasingly digitised and multimedia school environment. Faced with this new context, teachers of all grades and subject areas will also have to enrich their skillset with new competences, especially digital ones, often resulting from hybridisation with other professional profiles. At the same time, the study tells us that, over the next ten years, about one third of teachers' professional skills will not change, a fact that confirms the fundamental value of some key competences for this profession, from classroom management to teaching subject knowledge."

The study highlights three fundamental directions that will guide the evolution of teachers' skills over the next 10 years, in response to a radically transformed school environment. The integration of intelligent agents and advanced digital tools will make it possible to automate standardised activities, while maintaining the teacher's role central to the pedagogical choices and the educational path of students. In parallel, relational, adaptive and emotional skills will become crucial in the educational experience of the new generations, accustomed to digital interactions but in need of authentic human connections.

Finally, teaching will move towards customised and data-driven models, with the use of interactive platforms and real-time monitoring tools that will require new skills in data literacy and digital design. This change is part of a framework in which the mismatch between students' educational skills and labour market demands has reached 47 per cent in Italy, exceeding the OECD average of 40.9 per cent, making a systemic rethink of teacher training essential.

Mario Mariani, CEO of Sanoma Italia, says: "As a school publisher, we support teachers, students and pupils in and out of the classroom every day, a commitment that takes on particular relevance today in the light of the major transformations that characterise the world of education. In order for our support to be effective and always in line with the needs of all our stakeholders, it is essential to know well the scenario in which we move, its dynamics and its protagonists, in order to build a clear and conscious vision of the future. We are therefore delighted to have carried out this study together with EY, which allows us to gain an in-depth understanding of the evolutionary trends that will affect the teaching profession and, therefore, which skills teachers will be able to maintain and which new skills they will have to develop, between now and the next few years. This is a key starting point for formulating useful answers for those who teach, so that they can face, in particular, the new challenges linked to the impact of technology and the evolution of students' cognitive aptitudes'.