Equipping trainee teachers for responsible professional practice in an AI-enabled world

Artificial intelligence is already influencing how teachers plan, create resources, adapt learning, assess understanding and manage their professional workload. The critical question for Initial Teacher Training is no longer whether trainee teachers will encounter AI, but whether they will be equipped to use it safely, critically and professionally.

An AI in Initial Teacher Training Framework™ is a practical, professionally designed publication for organisations responsible for preparing and supporting the next generation of teachers.

Created for ITT providers, Teaching School Hubs, teacher educators, mentors, placement schools and partner schools, the framework establishes clear expectations for responsible AI practice across taught training, school placements and early career development.

Its central proposition is simple but powerful:

An AI-ready trainee teacher is not someone who uses AI frequently. It is someone who knows when, why and how it may be used and when professional judgement requires that it should not be used.

What the framework covers

The publication is organised around six interconnected domains:

1. Understand AIKnow how AI works, what it can do and where its limitations lie.

2. Protect LearnersSafeguard pupils, data, rights, wellbeing, inclusion and intellectual property.

3. Strengthen TeachingUse AI purposefully to improve teaching, adaptation, inclusion and feedback.

4. Preserve Learning and AuthorshipProtect authentic thinking, assessment validity and the learner’s own voice.

5. Exercise Professional JudgementVerify, challenge, adapt or reject AI-generated outputs while retaining human accountability.

6. Develop Responsible PracticeBuild confident, reflective and evidence-informed practice through training, mentoring and professional development.

Within every domain, the framework sets out connected responsibilities for:

• the trainee teacher;

• the teacher educator and mentor; and

• the ITT provider or Teaching School Hub.

It also provides suggested evidence of developing practice, clear professional outcomes and a progression journey from Encounter → Practise → Demonstrate → Consolidate → Lead responsibly.

Practical support for implementation

This is not simply a document about AI principles. It is designed to support meaningful action across the whole ITT partnership.

The framework can be used to:

• review and strengthen the taught ITT curriculum;

• establish consistent expectations across providers and placement schools;

• support mentor training and professional dialogue;

• guide trainee reflection and development;

• inform quality assurance and partnership discussions;

• examine AI use within assessment and trainee authorship;

• support continuity from initial training into early career practice; and

• evaluate organisational readiness through the included 12-point AI Readiness Review.

The framework is deliberately tool-neutral. It does not promote particular AI platforms or assume that AI should always be used. Instead, it develops the knowledge, judgement and professional accountability that trainees will need as technologies, evidence and national expectations continue to evolve.

Two complimentary professional resources included

Every purchase also provides access, through QR codes within the booklet, to two practical downloadable resources:

Trainee Professional Practice Checklist

A structured checklist that helps individual trainees reflect on their knowledge, decisions and developing practice across all six domains.

Mentor Discussion and Observation Guide

A practical guide to support professional conversations, lesson observations, developmental feedback and the identification of appropriate evidence.

These resources may be distributed to individual trainees and mentors, enabling providers and partner schools to translate the framework into professional practice.

Who is this publication for?

This framework is particularly valuable for:

• university-led and school-led ITT providers;

• SCITTs;

• Teaching School Hubs;

• teacher educators and programme leaders;

• subject and phase tutors;

• school-based mentors;

• placement and partner schools;

• senior leaders responsible for teacher development;

• early career teacher programme leaders; and

• organisations reviewing their approach to responsible AI in teacher preparation.

Why this framework matters

Trainee teachers need more than confidence in operating AI tools. They need to understand their limitations, protect learners, preserve authentic learning, evaluate their educational value and remain accountable for every professional decision.

An AI in Initial Teacher Training Framework™ provides the shared language, structured expectations and practical resources needed to make that preparation possible.

AI may shape the future of teaching, but it is teachers—guided by knowledge, ethics and professional judgement—who will shape the future of learning.

Download the framework today and begin building safe, consistent and professionally responsible AI practice across your ITT partnership.