Teachers as Builders: Insights from Stephen Jull, Maruf Hasan & Sean McWeeney of Teach For All

May 11, 2026

Guest

Maruf Hasan

Guest

Sean McWeeney

Guest

Stephen Jull

Stephen Jull, Global Head of AI at Teach For All, connects educators with frontier AI labs. Maruf Hasan is a Bangladesh-based educator building AI tools for low-resource schools. Sean McWeeney is a UK classroom teacher creating teacher-owned AI workflows. They discuss teachers becoming builders, classroom-led AI innovation, AI for underserved learners, global educator collaboration, and teacher ownership of edtech.

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INSIGHT

Create Space For Teacher-Led AI Innovation

Teach For All built an AI literacy and creator collective to let educators experiment with AI without top-down control.
Stephen Jull used the organization's 30-year foundations and global talent to create space, not bottlenecks, for teacher-led innovation.

ANECDOTE

Teacher Built Marking Tool Born From No-Code Coding

Sean McWeeney described building a simple marking tool after experimenting with code generated by AI despite no prior coding experience.
He iterated rapidly in his UK school to reduce teacher workload and keep ownership of the tool within the department.

ADVICE

Start With A Real Classroom Pain Point

Start with a concrete classroom pain point (e.g., marking workload) and iterate a teacher-owned AI solution.
Sean prioritized features teachers actually need, then cycled feedback and rapid changes at department level.

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Stephen Jull is the Global Head of AI and Educational Technology at Teach For All, leading efforts to connect educators with frontier AI labs. He’s joined by Maruf Hasan, a Bangladesh-based educator building AI tools in low-resource settings, and Sean McWeeney, a UK teacher focused on AI’s impact in high-need schools.

💡 5 Things You’ll Learn in This Episode:

How teachers are moving from AI users to AI builders
Why the most impactful AI innovation is happening in classrooms, not companies
How global educator communities accelerate learning and innovation
The role of AI in supporting underserved students and closing learning gaps
Why teacher ownership is critical to the future of edtech

✨ Episode Highlights:
[00:01:20] Introduction to Teach For All’s AI initiative and global educator community
[00:05:22] Stephen Jull on building partnerships between teachers and frontier AI labs
[00:08:16] Sean McWeeney on creating AI tools for marking and real classroom needs
[00:11:59] Maruf Hasan on using AI to support underserved students in low-resource settings
[00:14:51] How the AI community operates without centralized control and why it works
[00:18:30] Global collaboration: shared challenges across classrooms worldwide
[00:22:35] The power of community in turning non-technical educators into builders

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