Teaching the teachers: A systematic review of genAI-specific technological pedagogical knowledge (TPK) in teacher education

Synthesis: Ó Ceallaigh and Murphy (2026) systematically review the GenAI-specific Technological Pedagogical Knowledge (TPK) required by teacher educators (TEs) who prepare post-primary teachers — an underexplored area — following PRISMA guidelines. The final search (April 2025) covered ERIC and EBSCO for English-language peer-reviewed empirical studies from 2022–2025 (Scopus and Web of Science were excluded due to record overlap), using a modified PIO framework (Population, Intervention, Outcome) in place of PICO because comparison groups are uncommon in education research. Seventeen studies met the inclusion criteria, spanning qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-methods designs — e.g., Celik's Intelligent-TPACK scale development in Finland, Moorhouse & Kohnke's 604-instructor survey, Nyaaba & Zhai's 307 teacher educators in Ghana, and Warr & Heath's audit of LLM feedback bias. The synthesis finds that GenAI-specific TPK extends beyond digital competence to encompass pedagogical reasoning, ethical awareness, and AI-augmented Instructional Design, with persistent challenges around ethical decision-making, critical AI Literacy, data Privacy, algorithmic bias, authorship, and accountability — issues especially salient in teacher preparation within Higher Ed institutions (HEIs). The authors argue HEIs must foster coherent strategies, supportive policies, and sustained professional learning to build TEs' GenAI-TPK.

Key Findings

Scope and design. The review answers three research questions on the TPK pre-/in-service post-primary teachers need, the TPK TEs require to prepare them, and how TEs can be institutionally and professionally supported. Screening used a standardized coding framework informed by Miles & Huberman's two-phase model — vertical (within-case) analysis of each of the 17 studies followed by horizontal (cross-case) thematic synthesis; exclusion criteria removed non-empirical, non-peer-reviewed, and primary-level-focused work.

TPK extends beyond digital competence. Framed within TPACK (rooted in Shulman's PCK, extended by Mishra & Koehler) and augmented by Intelligent-TPACK (adding an Ethics domain), Contextual Knowledge (XK), and the Enabling AI framework, GenAI-TPK for TEs is conceptualised as context-dependent and dynamic, requiring pedagogical judgment, critical evaluation, and ethical reasoning embedded within — rather than separate from — technology integration.

Included-studies evidence. The 17 studies show varied educator readiness: e.g., Barrett & Pack (68 educators, 158 students) found teachers lacked guidance for ethically integrating ChatGPT into Writing Education pedagogy; Dilling & Herrmann documented emergent "instrumental genesis" as preservice Math Education teachers repurposed ChatGPT for proofs; Kong et al. showed an AI-literacy course improved 128 secondary students' ethical understanding; Guan et al. interviewed 24 pre-service K-12 teachers on reconceptualising teacher identity for AI collaboration; Lee et al. surveyed 30 Australian university educators facing inconsistent institutional support; Navío-Inglés et al. had 154 Spanish Teacher Education rate AI-vs human-written texts, with many failing to identify AI authorship; Wang et al. found most U.S. universities adopt "open-but-cautious" GenAI stances emphasising Academic Integrity; and Warr & Heath's audit found LLM feedback reproduced systemic inequities (e.g., lower scores for marginalized identities).

Institutional responsibility and HEI role. The review stresses that HEIs commonly offer pedagogical courses and professional development — accelerated since the Covid-19 pandemic — yet there is little evidence of how teacher-education programs specifically prepare future educators for GenAI. Fostering coherent institutional strategies, supportive policies, and sustained, subject-relevant professional learning is framed as central to enabling TEs' GenAI-TPK.

Ethical challenges are central. Themes of bias/fairness, accountability/transparency, privacy/data ethics, student Over-Reliance, and the need for ethical literacy recurred across studies, calling for a shift from reactive policy toward critical, reflective, Equity In AI Education-centred GenAI education, including explainable AI (XAI) and prompt-engineering training.

Limitations. The small number of included studies reflects the field's novelty and strict PRISMA criteria; restricting the search to ERIC and EBSCO may have excluded relevant work from Scopus, Web of Science, or Google Scholar; publication bias, limited heterogeneity, time-lag bias, and the interpretive nature of thematic synthesis (no meta-analysis or effect-size aggregation was possible) constrain generalizability.

Implication. Teacher-education programs must explicitly build teacher educators' GenAI-TPK, with HEIs enabling this through coherent strategies, supportive policies, and sustained professional learning — connecting to Teacher Education, TPACK, Ethics, Curriculum Design, and Faculty Development.

Connected Concepts

Connected Articles

Designing AI Professional Development Itpack 2026 — Intelligent-TPACK PD framework
Human Centered AI Teacher Educators 2026 — Human-centered AI for teacher educators
Teachers AI Knowledge GenAI Lesson Planning 2026 — Teachers' AI knowledge in lesson planning
Harnessing AI Preservice Teachers Scoping 2026 — AI in preservice teacher development

Citation

Ó Ceallaigh, T. J., & Murphy, S. (2026). Teaching the teachers: A systematic review of genAI-specific technological pedagogical knowledge (TPK) in teacher education. Computers and Education Open, 100367. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.caeo.2026.100367