Research Article
Preparing Pre-Service Teachers for Responsible Generative AI Use: Curriculum Implications for Ethics, Privacy, and AI Literacy
Overview
Kohnke and colleagues investigate what pre-service teachers should learn about generative AI by backtracking from anticipated classroom dilemmas to teacher-education design needs. Through qualitative interviews with 17 pre-service teachers at a university, the study explores perspectives on integrating AI into education, focusing on ethical concerns and pedagogical strategies within an interpretivist paradigm.
Key Findings
- Pre-service teachers raise concerns about academic integrity, privacy, and the challenge of maintaining essential human skills in a GenAI-driven educational environment.
- The backtracking approach translates classroom dilemmas into concrete teacher-education curriculum implications.
- Findings identify a need for AI literacy and critical-thinking skills in teacher education, alongside ethics and privacy awareness.
- The study supports embedding responsible-use considerations across the teacher-education curriculum rather than treating them as an add-on.
Implications for Practice
- For teacher educators: Curriculum should build pre-service teachers' AI literacy and critical thinking around authentic GenAI dilemmas (integrity, privacy, human skills).
- For curriculum designers: Ethics, privacy, and AI literacy should be woven throughout teacher preparation, grounded in anticipated classroom realities.
- For pre-service teachers: Preparation for responsible GenAI use involves both technical understanding and ethical reasoning.
Connected Concepts
Connected Articles
- TPACK GenAI Inservice Teachers Mediation 2026 — TPACK-GenAI for in-service teachers (Mohebi & ElSayary 2026)
- Preschool Teachers AI Behavioral Intention 2026 — teacher behavioral intention to use AI (Duan et al. 2026)
- Pre Service Science Teachers AI Perceptions 2026 — pre-service science teachers' AI perceptions
Citation
Preparing pre-service teachers for responsible generative AI use: Curriculum implications for ethics, privacy, and AI literacy — Kohnke, L., Zou, D., Lai, C., & Gu, M. M. (2026). Computers and Education: Artificial Intelligence, 10, 100617.