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 Learning 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 Education 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 Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (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 conceptualized 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 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 reconceptualizing teacher identity for AI collaboration; Lee et al. surveyed 30 Australian university educators facing inconsistent institutional support; Navío-Inglés et al. had 154 Spanish Professional Development 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 emphasizing Academic Integrity; and Warr & Heath's audit found Large Language Models (LLMs) 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-centered 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 Professional Development, Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK), Ethics, Curriculum Design, and Educational Development.

What this means for practice

• Teacher educators. Make GenAI-specific TPK an explicit, assessed element of initial teacher education — pedagogical reasoning, ethical awareness, and AI-augmented learning design — rather than leaving it to incidental digital competence.
• Teacher educators. Teach ethical decision-making as part of technology integration: bias and fairness, accountability and transparency, privacy and data ethics, and student over-reliance recurred across the included studies.
• Faculty developers. Design sustained, subject-relevant professional learning instead of one-off courses; the review found little evidence of how teacher-education programs specifically prepare future educators for GenAI and reports inconsistent institutional support.
• Administrators. Establish coherent institutional strategy and supportive policy before expecting staff to integrate GenAI, since the reviewed evidence points to fragmented guidance rather than systemic preparation.

Limitations

• Only 17 studies met the inclusion criteria (English-language peer-reviewed empirical work, 2022–2025), a small corpus the authors attribute to the field's novelty and their strict application of PRISMA criteria.
• The search was confined to ERIC and EBSCO; Scopus and Web of Science were excluded because of record overlap, so relevant interdisciplinary or international work may have been missed.
• With mostly qualitative designs, no meta-analysis or quantitative aggregation was feasible — no effect sizes or trend estimates can be drawn from the synthesis.
• Publication bias is likely (positive findings are more publishable than null results) and heterogeneity among the included studies is limited, constraining generalizability.

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