Three weeks ago, two public schools in Houston launched a bold academic experiment.

The schools will split the school day this year, with mornings devoted to intensive traditional academics and the afternoons centered on projects that will teach “human-centric skills” like critical thinking, collaboration, and adaptability.

The idea is to ensure students master both the academic basics and the higher-order skills necessary to stand out in a world that is increasingly reliant on AI. On its website, the school district said the new program “expands the focus to include critical thinking, problem-solving, real-world experiences, and the ability to navigate an increasingly complex, technology-driven world.”

At first blush, this seems like an interesting approach to a real problem. I love that a major U.S. school system is trying to adapt to a new and ever-changing reality with foresight and thoughtfulness. Rather than banning AI or pretending generative AI shouldn’t change how schools operate, Houston is facing the cold reality: with AI predicted to consume most routine work tasks, being competitive in the workforce will mean mastering higher-order reasoning skills, offering creative problem solving, and strong emotional intelligence.

Houston’s willingness to pivot and adapt is commendable, but as any veteran teacher will tell you, it’s a big leap from a press release to an effective implementation of a new way of doing things.

U.S. schools may learn a lot from the effort in Houston. However, there are some aspects of the effort that I’ll be watching closely to see how they’re handled.

You Cannot Think Critically On Nothing

The basic idea behind Houston’s switch is to separate academics – which will be taught “intensively” in the morning hours – and the learning of “human-centric skills” – which will be taught in afternoon classes, seminars, field trips and group projects. As an idea, it sounds fine, but it may be fatally flawed.

As cognitive scientist Daniel Willingham has........

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