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Good practice Imported

AI Sparring Partner — Belgrade Pilot Trains Teachers in Difficult Conversations via AI Role-Play

Serbia · Belgrade · See the Serbia profile · See the Belgrade profile

Evidence: Descriptive / self-reported Top 95% 20/100 · Ask Evidence Copilot about this practice

A Belgrade pilot let 30+ Serbian teachers and pedagogues rehearse difficult conversations — with a frustrated parent or struggling student — against an AI role-play partner, then debrief the emotional dynamics with colleagues before trying again.

30+ participants
Teachers, pedagogues and education professionals reached (December 2025)
3 workshops
Pilot workshops held (December 2025)
AI Sparring Partner — Belgrade Pilot Trains Teachers in Difficult Conversations via AI Role-Play

Details

Maturity
Pilot
Promoter
Petlja Foundation, UNDP Serbia, Serbia Ministry of Education, Institute for the Improvement of Education
Period
December 2025
Keywords
teacher professional development, communication skills, AI role-play simulation

Context

The "AI Sparring Partner" is an AI-driven role-play simulator developed by the Petlja Foundation as part of the UNDP Serbia project "Building Key Computing Competencies – Towards the Workforce of the Future", run with Serbia's Ministry of Education and the Institute for the Improvement of Education.

Objectives

Let teachers rehearse difficult real-life conversations — for example with a frustrated parent or a struggling student — against a simulated AI interlocutor in a low-stakes setting, then debrief the emotional dynamics with colleagues before trying again.

Activities

Three pilot workshops were held in Belgrade in December 2025, reaching over 30 teachers, pedagogues and education professionals. Expert facilitators, including Dr. Tanja Šijaković, guided participants through the simulated conversation and a group debrief before a re-attempt. The methodology is designed for small groups of up to five, with facilitation.

Results

The pilot reached over 30 teachers, pedagogues and education professionals across three workshops. Some participating teachers reportedly found the AI interlocutor a genuinely challenging experience, not simply a convenient one.

Conclusions

No data yet exists on whether the training changed teachers' real classroom or parent conversations, and no rollout plan beyond the pilot has been documented. Both reporting sources are parties involved in the project (funder and developer), so participation figures should be read as programme-reported rather than externally audited.

Implementation
Indicative cost
Low (< €50k)
Time to results
Short (< 1 year) — Three pilot workshops delivered in December 2025; no further rollout timeline documented.
Staffing & skills
Petlja Foundation development and facilitation team, Expert facilitators, including Dr. Tanja Šijaković, Serbia Ministry of Education and Institute for the Improvement of Education as government partners, UNDP Serbia as project funder

Conditions for success

  • Small-group format (up to five participants) with active facilitation
  • Structured debrief of emotional dynamics after each simulated conversation, followed by a re-attempt
  • Delivered under an existing UNDP-backed national programme with Ministry of Education involvement

Common failure modes

  • Some participating teachers found the AI interlocutor genuinely emotionally challenging rather than merely convenient
  • No data yet exists on whether the training changed teachers' real classroom or parent conversations
  • Both reporting sources (UNDP and Petlja) are parties to the project (funder and developer), with no independent verification found
  • No rollout plan beyond the pilot has been documented

Where it fits

Governance type
donor/government partnership (UNDP and Ministry of Education)
Scale
pilot / local (three workshops in Belgrade)

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