POLICY PROMISES, INSTITUTIONAL SILENCES: PRE-SERVICE TEACHERS’ EXPERIENCES OF AI IN INITIAL TEACHER EDUCATION IN PUNJAB, PAKISTAN

Abstract

The policy ambition and institutional stalemate describe initial teacher education (ITE) in Punjab, Pakistan. Although the Punjab government has recently added a policy promise of implementing artificial intelligence (AI) into every government school, pre-service teachers seeking ITE programmes have reported a significant gap between policy pronouncements and the training reality. This phenomenological study relied on a three-interview series methodology to understand the experiences of pre-service teachers in ITE in Punjab regarding AI. Based on semi-structured interviews with 12 participants pursuing B.Ed. programmes and analysis using NVivo 15, the study reconstructed the life histories of participants, their current life experiences, and their meaning-making processes concerning AI. The analysis generated four themes: ubiquitous informal AI use without institutional framing, pedagogical ambivalence and fragmented integration, ethical tensions of professional identity, and an urgent need for critically informed AI training. The findings reveal how institutional silence shapes pre-service teacher professional identity formation and constrains their professional development amid rapid technological change. This study contributes to the global body of AI literacy research in teacher education and provides context-specific guidance on future curriculum reform in the Pakistani ITE sector