Nigar Ismayilova
PhD in Pedagogy, Associate Professor
Department of Preschool Education Pedagogy
Azerbaijan State Pedagogical University
Baku, Azerbaijan
ORCID: 0000-0002-2538-9740
Keywords: artificial intelligence, teacher professionalism, teacher competencies, digital competence, AI literacy, AI-pedagogy, ethical responsibility, professional development, educational technologies
Abstract. This article examines the evolving nature of teacher professionalism against the backdrop of the rapid integration of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies into the educational process. AI is viewed not merely as a new digital tool, but as a transformative factor reshaping teachers’ activities in planning, instruction, assessment, communication, and professional development. Beyond the ability to use technical tools, modern teachers are required to evaluate AI’s capabilities and limitations, ensure ethical and responsible use, adhere to data protection standards, critically assess generative AI outputs, and uphold human-centric pedagogical decisions. The article analyzes UNESCO’s 2024 AI Competency Framework for Teachers and the European Commission’s DigCompEdu framework as a theoretical basis. The UNESCO framework defines 15 competencies across five key areas and outlines developmental levels — «acquire,» «deepen,» and «create» — for teachers. Based on these approaches, a new model of teacher professionalism is proposed. The model integrates components such as human-centric thinking, AI literacy, ethical responsibility, the integration of AI into pedagogy, critical-didactic decision-making, information literacy, and continuous professional development. The article’s findings demonstrate that AI is not a mechanism that replaces the teacher; rather, it is a tool that expands the teacher’s professional capabilities within an appropriate pedagogical framework.
Introduction
The rapid development of artificial intelligence presents education systems with new professional and ethical demands alongside new opportunities. Generative AI systems have the capacity to generate text, structure ideas, create personalized learning materials, draft initial assessment samples, and optimize a portion of a teacher’s daily workload. However, these capabilities render it insufficient to define the teacher’s role merely as a user of technology. By introducing a global AI competency framework for teachers in 2024, UNESCO highlights the shift in the teacher-student relationship during the AI era toward a teacher-AI-student dynamic. The framework defines 15 competencies across five dimensions: human-centered mindset, AI ethics, AI fundamentals and applications, AI pedagogy, and AI for professional learning. These competencies are presented across three levels of development: acquiring, deepening, and creating. Within the DigCompEdu framework, the European Commission (Redecker & Punie, 2017, pp. 15–16) systematizes teachers’ digital competence across six areas and 22 competencies. The framework presents technology not merely as a technical skill, but as a pedagogical competence linked to teaching, assessment, learner empowerment, and professional development. In this context, the central issue is the shift from the question «Can the teacher use AI?» to «For what pedagogical purposes, within what ethical framework, and with what professional responsibility does the teacher use AI?» The aim of this article is precisely to analyze this transformation and to systematize the key components of a new model of teacher competencies for the 21st century.
Main part. In the traditional education model, the teacher primarily acts as a source of knowledge, an organizer of the learning process, an evaluator, and a guide for student activities. However, the widespread adoption of AI dramatically expands the opportunities for acquiring knowledge. Consequently, the teacher’s value lies less in merely presenting information and more in selecting, verifying, and contextualizing that information, as well as transforming it into pedagogical decisions tailored to the learner’s development.
This change should not diminish the teacher’s professional autonomy. On the contrary, the teacher remains the primary authority in determining whether the re-sponse generated by an AI tool is pedagogically appropriate. UNESCO (2024, pp. 16–20) emphasizes the preservation of human agency, respect for teachers’ rights, inclusiv-ity, and sustainability as core principles for the use of AI in education.
Thus, the role of the modern teacher expands in four directions: from a trans-mitter of knowledge to a designer of learning; from a user of digital tools to a profes-sional possessing digital and AI literacy; from a mere assessor to a specialist making data-informed pedagogical decisions; and from a consumer of technology to a facilita-tor managing human-AI collaboration.
Key areas of new competencies for teachers. Human-centric mindset
In the era of AI, the most fundamental competency is keeping the human-rather than the technology—at the center. Teachers should link the opportunities provided by AI to students’ creativity, independent thinking, social relationships, and emotional development. AI should support, not replace, a teacher’s pedagogical judgment.
AI literacy
A teacher need not understand the inner workings of AI at a programmer’s lev-el, but must grasp its core principles, the capabilities and limitations of generative models, the potential for incorrect or fabricated answers, the impact of data quality on outcomes, and the risks of algorithmic bias. Such literacy prevents teachers from blind-ly accepting AI-generated results.
Ethical and legal responsibility
The use of AI in education brings issues such as personal data protection, copy-right, academic integrity, transparency, discrimination, and algorithmic bias to the forefront. Teachers must understand what information can be entered into AI systems, what data must remain confidential, and the circumstances under which AI-generated material cannot be cited as a source.
Plans are also in place for 2026 to strengthen European-level guidance on the ethical, responsible, safe, and transparent use of AI in education and training, as well as to update the DigCompEdu framework to account for the rapid development of AI.
AI-pedagogical competence
Merely using an AI tool does not equate to AI pedagogy. The key factor is se-lecting the technology to suit a specific pedagogical objective. Through AI, teachers can create personalized assignments, adapt materials for learners at different proficiency levels, support the ideation process, and enrich project-based learning. UNESCO (2024, pp. 35–37) defines AI pedagogy as the integration of AI with pedagogy in a way that supports student-centered learning, personalization, critical thinking, and problem-solving.
Critical thinking and information literacy
Automatically accepting AI-generated content as accurate poses a significant pedagogical risk. Therefore, teachers must develop skills in verifying sources, cross-referencing facts, and evaluating authorship and credibility. This competence must al-so be fostered in students.
Continuous professional development
The rapid evolution of ICT means that digital skills acquired by a teacher once will not suffice for the long term. Professional development must be continuous; teach-ers need to experiment with new tools, evaluate their pedagogical impact, exchange experiences with colleagues, and reflectively analyze their own practice. DigCompEdu also identifies continuous digital professional development as a distinct area of teacher competence (Redecker & Punie, 2017, pp. 15–16).
A new model of teacher competencies for the 21st century
The model proposed in this article is built upon the logic of UNESCO’s ICT competency frameworks and the DigCompEdu approach, yet it adopts a more holistic view of the teacher’s professional practice. The model comprises seven key compo-nents:
1) Human-centric pedagogical thinking – prioritizing human agency and stu-dent development in the use of AI.
2) AI literacy – a basic understanding of the capabilities, limitations, and oper-ating principles of AI systems.
3) Ethical and safe use – addressing privacy, authorship, academic integrity, transparency, and the prevention of discrimination.
4) AI-integrated pedagogical design – the purposeful integration of AI tools in-to lessons, assignments, projects, and assessment processes.
5) Critical-didactic decision-making – verifying AI outputs and justifying ped-agogical decisions made by the teacher.
6) Human-AI collaboration – the teacher managing AI as a supportive partner and aligning its outputs with pedagogical goals.
7) Continuous professional development – the ongoing updating of competen-cies in line with new technologies.
Development levels of the competency model
A three-stage development approach is appropriate for the model’s implemen-tation. The first stage is «acquisition»: the teacher learns the fundamental concepts of AI, safety guidelines, and simple applications. The second stage is «deepening»: the teacher systematically integrates AI into teaching, assessment, and personalization. The third stage is «creation»: the teacher develops new pedagogical scenarios using AI, tests innovative approaches, and contributes to the professional development of col-leagues. This staged approach aligns with UNESCO’s (2024, pp. 21–27) «Acquire–Deepen–Create» development logic.
The impact of AI on a teacher’s daily activities
In lesson planning, AI can assist teachers in developing ideas, activity scenari-os, and tasks of varying difficulty levels aligned with lesson objectives. However, ra-ther than directly using ready-made content, the teacher should adapt it to meet cur-riculum requirements, age-specific needs, and the actual needs of the class.
Regarding assessment, AI can generate initial drafts of rubrics, sample ques-tions, and structured suggestions for personalized feedback. Nevertheless, the final as-sessment decision must remain the teacher’s professional responsibility.
In terms of personalized learning, AI can help prepare materials tailored to di-verse learning needs. This capability is also significant for inclusive education, though the possibility of the technology producing biased or inaccurate results must be taken into account.
An institutional approach to teacher training
The development of teacher competencies should not be limited to the efforts of individual teachers alone. Educational institutions must establish clear policies, ethical guidelines, data security protocols, and professional development programs regarding the use of AI. It is also crucial to involve teachers in the decision-making process con-cerning AI. UNESCO (2024, pp. 43–51) indicates that the framework can be used in the development of national competency standards, teacher training programs, and as-sessment mechanisms.
Challenges and Risks
The integration of AI into education presents several risks: the spread of misin-formation, excessive reliance on technology by teachers and students, issues regarding academic integrity, personal data protection, the digital divide, and algorithmic bias. These risks should be mitigated not by rejecting the technology, but through pedagogi-cal and institutional governance mechanisms.
The guiding principle can be stated as follows: AI should not make decisions in place of the teacher; rather, it should assist the teacher in making more informed deci-sions.
Implementation Prospects for Azerbaijan’s Education System
Developing AI competencies within Azerbaijan’s education sector can be viewed as advancing teachers’ digital professionalism to a new level. In this regard, it is advisable to incorporate modules on AI literacy, working with generative AI, ethical usage, data security, AI-assisted lesson design, and the verification of AI-generated outputs into teacher professional development programs.
Meanwhile, in higher pedagogical education institutions, practical AI-related projects, micro-teaching sessions, reflective assignments, and analyses of ethical sce-narios could be implemented for future teachers. Such an approach can ensure the in-tegration of technology into the system of pedagogical competencies, rather than teaching it as a separate subject.
Conclusion
Artificial intelligence does not eliminate the teacher’s role in the education sys-tem; rather, it transforms the content and structure of their professional practice. Mod-ern teachers are required to possess not only technological proficiency but also a hu-man-centric mindset, AI literacy, ethical responsibility, critical evaluation skills, peda-gogical design capabilities, and a commitment to continuous professional develop-ment.
The proposed new competency model envisions reconstructing teacher profes-sionalism on a pedagogical-humanistic foundation rather than a purely technological one. The core idea of the model is not for AI to replace the teacher, but to expand the teacher’s professional capabilities. In this context, the teacher of the future is not mere-ly a specialist who uses digital tools, but a professional capable of directing human-technology collaboration toward pedagogical goals, making ethical decisions, and tak-ing responsibility for the quality of learning.
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