Abstract
The rise of generative AI in education introduces temporal frictions that challenge traditional notions of learning, reflection, and ethical judgment in teacher education. This paper examines how preservice teachers navigate the ethical and pedagogical tensions AI introduces into their professional formation. Drawing on Barnett’s (2007) concept of “a will to learn”, this paper explores the contradictions between the uncertainty, struggle, and becoming essential to pedagogical engagement and meaningful learning in preservice teacher education, and AI’s predictive logic, which offers instant lesson plans, assessments, and instructional support. Through a sociomaterial perspective on digital agency, this paper analyses data from a 10-month multi-site, multimodal ethnography with preservice teachers who have grappled with the temporal demands of AI use in lesson planning, assessment, and classroom practice. Classroom observations, interviews, and multimodal journals reveal that while AI alleviates cognitive load and time pressures it also generates temporal dissonance—moments where ethical reasoning, agency, and pedagogical reflection are disrupted. By foregrounding time as a contested space in teacher education assemblages, this paper reconsiders the role of time in learning, ethics and becoming. In doing so, the paper contributes to conversations on AI’s role in teacher education, proposing strategies for integrating AI without eroding the essential struggle of learning. Ultimately, the study challenges deterministic narratives of AI as either a shortcut to competence or a threat to authenticity, advocating instead for a nuanced understanding of how future teachers can sustain a will to learn and learn to teach in an era of technological acceleration.
Presenters
Delecia DavidsLecturer, Department Curriculum Studies, Stellenbosch University, Western Cape, South Africa
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
Generative AI in Education, Sociomateriallity, Digital Agency, Teacher Education, Temporalities
