STEM Teacher Training as Critical Practice: Generative AI, STEAM Approaches and Educational Responsibility


Abstract

This paper examines teacher education as a space for educational responsibility, exploring how the integration of generative AI and STEAM approaches challenges and redefines the professional identity of STEM teachers. Building on an exploratory study conducted as part of the PNRR with a group of teachers from various school levels, the work examines the critical and transformative dimensions of the digital transition in education as a process of ethical, didactic, and pedagogical redefinition. The results highlight how immersive technologies and knowledge-co-construction practices can foster reflective professional attitudes, creative thinking, and inclusive learning environments, while simultaneously revealing persistent gaps in teachers’ digital competencies that require systematic and professional development investments.