Primary school teachers’ professional readiness for integrating artificial intelligence concepts

Abstract

Artificial intelligence is becoming an important component of contemporary education; however, in primary school, teachers often lack sufficient methodological and ethical preparation to integrate its basic concepts into teaching and learning. The absence of age-appropriate, systematic approaches leads to a persistent gap between the potential of AI technologies and teachers’ readiness to ensure their safe and pedagogically sound application.
The purpose of this study is to substantiate and develop a model of primary school teachers’ professional readiness to introduce basic concepts of artificial intelligence to young learners, as well as to assess the actual level of such readiness based on empirical data. A mixed-methods design was employed, combining an analysis of international frameworks (UNESCO, OECD, AI4K12), pedagogical modelling, and a survey of 97 teachers. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, and thematic coding of open-ended responses. The study’s novelty lies in the operationalization of a three-dimensional readiness model (T-P-E).
The findings indicate that teachers’ self-assessed readiness to work with AI technologies remains low: mean values range from 2.33 (creating didactic materials using AI tools) to 2.81 (understanding ethical aspects). Correlation analysis revealed a moderate and statistically significant relationship between overall AI awareness and actual use of AI tools in teaching practice (r = 0.59), underscoring the need for targeted professional development. The proposed T-P-E model structures teachers’ readiness across technical, pedagogical, and ethical dimensions, identifies key gaps, and provides a foundation for further professional support.
Effective integration of AI concepts in primary education requires a comprehensive approach that combines technical, methodological, and ethical components. The results have practical value for designing teacher professional development programmes and form a conceptual basis for developing age-appropriate learning tasks and activities for students in Grades 1–4.