Reimagining Teacher Education: Critical Pedagogy and Practice in the Age of AI (Stage 3, 8:35 AM)

• In Event: e-Lightning Ed-Talk Session 15 - Stage 3

Abstract

As generative artificial intelligence tools become integrated into educational systems, there is an urgent need to address how these technologies may perpetuate existing inequities. This study employs Freire's critical pedagogy principles: conscientization, dialogue, and praxis for AI teacher education. Using educational design research, we implemented this framework in a summer professional development program for 26 secondary teachers in the Southwest borderlands. Through hybrid deductive-inductive analysis of survey responses, we examined how teachers engaged with critical consciousness, collaborative dialogue, and practical application of AI tools. Findings reveal that while participants strongly embraced praxis and dialogue—evidenced through hands-on experimentation and collaborative learning—critical consciousness emerged more subtly. Positioning teachers as critical creators, this work advances culturally situated, liberatory, and humanizing AI education practices.

Authors

• Melissa Warr, New Mexico State University

• Suparna Chatterjee, New Mexico State University

• Nicole Oster, Arizona State University

• Sage Peterson, New Mexico State University