Abstract
As artificial intelligence transforms how knowledge is created, shared, and evaluated, teacher education faces new challenges in preparing future educators to engage critically and confidently with emerging technologies. This paper shares findings from a qualitative study that explored how pre-service teachers developed critical AI literacy (CAIL) through the creation of boundary objects. While CAIL has been described in multiple and often fragmented ways, this study distilled three key outcomes (efficacy, ethical awareness, and empowerment) as essential to supporting teachers’ agency in working with AI. Boundary objects, typically understood as theoretical tools, were reconceptualized here as a self-directed and creative method for inquiry and critical reflection on their own values of using AI in future classrooms. Pre-service teachers designed artifacts that represented their personal connections to AI in education, integrating their experiences, disciplinary perspectives, and evolving understandings of technology’s implications. This process encouraged them to examine their own assumptions, confront ethical tensions, and articulate informed positions on AI’s role in learning. Participants were also able to begin navigating the complexities of existing AI education policies and guidelines and reflected on how these constraints intersect with their own professional judgment and values. The study highlights how this approach positions boundary object creation as both a methodological and pedagogical innovation, enabling educators to translate complex ideas about AI and ethics into meaningful, practice-oriented insight. We consider how such reflective design methods can strengthen interdisciplinary teaching, research, and community engagement across the humanities and social sciences.
Presenters
Tess Butler UlrichLab Manager/Research Assistant/Faculty/Doctoral Student, Education, Ontario Tech University, Ontario, Canada
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
Pre-service Teacher Agency, Teacher Values, Boundary Objects, Critical AI Literacies
