Conference Program

In recent years, artificial intelligence (AI) has become increasingly influential in society and in education (UNESCO, 2024). Nevertheless, previous research indicates that teacher education still faces significant challenges in developing the professional digital competence (PDC) of both teacher educators and student teachers (Kelentrić, Helland & Arstorp, 2024; Pedersen et al., 2024). A core problem has been the persistent emphasis on instrumental uses of digital technologies, with comparatively limited attention to how such technologies shape society, individual learners, and the processes through which knowledge is acquired (Aagaard et al., 2025). With the rapid emergence of AI layered on top of these developments, there is reason for concern. At present, there is limited knowledge on how teacher education institutions respond at the organisational level to the introduction of AI, and to what extent they integrate AI in meaningful and pedagogically grounded ways (Ceallaigh, T. Ó et al., 2025).

This study seeks to generate deeper insight into how teacher education institutions in Norway address AI as part of their institutional and educational practices. Specifically, we ask: To what extent do institutional measures reflect a shift from an instrumental towards a more critical and society-oriented perspective on digital technologies? To explore this question, we examine how AI is framed, legitimised and operationalised within strategic documents, guidelines, and institutional initiatives, and how these overall regulations, guidelines and general institutional efforts are perceived by the institutional leadership responsible for teacher education. Based on our findings, we also discuss how these findings may relate to broader discussions concerning digital competence, professional knowledge, and epistemic change in the context of emerging technologies.

The study employs a qualitative design combining document analysis with semi-structured interviews. Data will be collected from key actors across five Norwegian teacher education institutions, including deans responsible for teacher education and programme leaders or coordinators. Our analytical approach is grounded in discourse theory, using interpretative repertoires as a sensitizing concept. The material is examined through a reflexive thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2021) that recognizes the situated and interpretive role of the researcher (Byrne, 2022). Through this approach, the project aims to identify similarities and differences in institutional strategies, understandings, and practices related to AI, and to assess the extent to which these reflect varying degrees of institutional digital maturity (Akbarighatar et al., 2023; Begicevic et al., 2021). This way, our study may offer an empirical contribution to understanding how higher education institutions interpret and operationalize AI based on their existing digital capacities. At the conference, we will present and discuss preliminary findings from the study.