This study presents an abductive analysis of interview data from 13 Finnish teachers involved in national AI education development projects and conceptualises a potential synergy between the domains where students' self‐determined, informed engagement with AI is placed at the centre of educational efforts in AI education.
Abstract
As artificial intelligence (AI) becomes an increasingly prominent societal and educational phenomenon, teachers are required to determine not only how but also
why
students are educated about it in the classroom. Understanding teachers' thinking about the purposes of AI education is crucial, as they guide day‐to‐day choices about classroom uses of AI.
This qualitative study investigates the purposes that teachers associate with AI education in primary and early childhood contexts and how AI has been taken up in teaching and learning.
Drawing on Gert Biesta's three‐dimensional framework of well‐rounded educational purpose, which emphasises students' holistic growth through the domains of qualification, socialisation, and subjectification, this study presents an abductive analysis of interview data from 13 Finnish teachers involved in national AI education development projects.
The teachers' views reflected an exploratory phase of AI education, characterised by an emphasis on skill development (qualification); a focus that risks overlooking students' critical and personal engagement with these prominent technologies. It also triggers diverse interpretations and teaching practices, ranging from an instrumental approach, where education is guided by goals such as future employability, to an orientation that foregrounds emancipation and self‐expression in the present. While the teachers acknowledged the importance of fostering AI agency (subjectification), their approaches lacked robust strategies to support it. This study foregrounds such gaps and conceptualises a potential synergy between the domains where students' self‐determined, informed engagement with AI is placed at the centre of educational efforts in AI education.
Analysis of how teachers perceive their AI competencies, the purposes for which they apply AI in teaching practice, and how confident they feel when integrating intelligent models into their teaching practices shows that teachers primarily associate educational technology with AI, use it mainly for lesson preparation, and report psychological effects such as enhanced confidence, motivation, and innovation.
Maja Veljković Michos, Valentina B. Bošković Marković, Milica Čolović· SINTEZA· 0 citations
It is argued that the future of professional capital depends less on technological advancement itself and more on how AI is embedded within institutional design, professional learning cultures and teacher agency.
S. Yıldız, İbrahim Karagöl· Journal of Professional Capi...· 0 citations
This qualitative study examines the perspectives of in-service teachers regarding the integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) into educational settings. A purposive sampling framework combining criterion and snowball sampling strategies was employed, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 23 in-service teachers. Data were analyzed through content analysis. The analysis revealed three themes: teachers’ current digital practices, AI acceptance and integration of AI. The findings showed that teachers currently use digital technologies for various pedagogical purposes and have also begun using AI technologies in educational settings. Also, teachers perceived AI as useful because of easier access to information, time efficiency, decision-making support, personalized feedback, and professional development. However, they also expressed pedagogical and ethical concerns regarding student overreliance, academic dishonesty, the potential misuse of AI, data security, and the digital divide. The results indicate that, given the multifaceted nature of AI technologies successful AI integration requires specific teacher competencies, particularly critical AI literacy and ethical awareness competencies. Findings also suggest that successful integration requires practical, subject-specific training for both in-service and pre-service teachers, training for students, family engagement, and financial support. This study provides insights into how teachers use AI technologies, their perceptions of required competencies, the challenges and concerns they perceive. Limitations and suggestions for future research are also discussed.
Feray Uğur Erdoğmuş· Participatory Educational Re...· 0 citations
As artificial intelligence (AI) becomes increasingly embedded in educational systems, teachers face new expectations for engaging AI as part of their instructional work and professional responsibilities. This paper argues that clarifying AI competencies for teaching requires more than listing skills: it requires a coherent account of (1) what these competencies involve, (2) how they are enacted in practice, and (3) what evidence can support teacher learning and professional judgment over time. We conceptualize these integrated capacities as AI competencies for teaching and distinguish them from broader notions of AI literacy by emphasizing application, professional judgment, and context sensitivity. Drawing on trends in how AI is reshaping teaching, we introduce a framing of AI’s roles in education (as tool, content, and context) to specify the instructional demands to which our current understanding of teaching competencies must respond. We then summarize features of existing competency frameworks to surface shared foundations and key tensions related to ethics, technical depth, professional agency, and domain specificity. We describe six interrelated domains of AI competencies for teaching, spanning AI content knowledge, AI technologies, pedagogical integration, ethical awareness, professional judgment and agency, and openness to continuous learning. To illustrate what these competencies look like in use, we present a scenario that makes teachers’ instructional decision-making visible when AI is present. Finally, we discuss progress-oriented, evidence-centered approaches, including implications for assessment, that can support teachers’ development of these competencies. This work ultimately positions AI competencies for teaching as central to sustaining ethically grounded, responsible, and professionally empowering teaching in AI-mediated educational environments.
Suggested citation: Ober, T. M., Tenison, C., Phelps, G., Renfrow-Symon, E., Mikeska, J., & Dean, V. J. (in press). AI competencies for teaching: From conceptual frameworks to enacted practices. ETS Research Report Series. https://doi.org/10.64634/z5j3ts49
Teresa M. Ober, Caitlin Tenison, Geoffrey Phelps et al.· ETS Research Report Series· 0 citations
The findings indicate that faculty most frequently use AI in research and course preparation, and less commonly in teaching and assessment, and differences in faculty's beliefs are associated with the frequency and domains of AI use, professional development and institutional support.
Artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly being introduced into educational practice, raising questions about how teachers perceive its pedagogical role and the extent to which they are willing to integrate it into teaching. This study examined primary and secondary school teachers’ preferred pedagogical approaches to AI use and the contribution of professional awareness and conceptual beliefs to explaining these preferences. A total of 322 teachers from primary and secondary schools in Croatia completed an online questionnaire measuring professional awareness of AI, conceptual beliefs about its role in education, and preferred pedagogical approaches. Descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, and multiple regression were used to analyse the data. The results showed a clear preference for an integrative approach, in which AI is used to support teaching while teachers retain professional control over pedagogical decisions. The traditional approach was less pronounced, whereas the technological approach was almost entirely absent. Viewing AI as a didactically useful teaching tool was a significant positive predictor of preference for the integrative approach, whereas inactive awareness and critical beliefs about AI risks were significant negative predictors. These findings suggest that teachers accept AI primarily as a supportive tool within a pedagogical model that preserves their autonomy and responsibility for teaching.
Alena Letina, Suzana Tomaš, Alma Škugor· Education sciences· 0 citations