Human-centered AI for teacher educators: Designing professional learning for critical AI literacy

Teacher educators play a pivotal role in shaping how preservice teachers understand, evaluate, and integrate artificial intelligence (AI) in classrooms, yet they rarely receive systematic preparation to lead this work. This design-based study examines how principles of Human-Centered AI (HCAI) and critical AI literacy can inform the design of professional learning resources for teacher educators. Across three cycles of needs analysis, prototyping, and refinement with seven teacher educators, findings identified three convergent design needs: (a) improving instructional efficiency and effectiveness while preserving professional judgment, (b) modeling responsible and ethical AI integration, and (c) reforming teacher education pedagogies with AI. We translate these findings into a five-module curriculum that operationalizes critical AI literacy competencies (foundational AI knowledge; ethics and algorithmic bias; pedagogical integration; implementation, guidelines, and policy; and human-centered AI in education) through seven HCAI-informed activities, including educator-in-the-loop tasks that strengthen professional judgment, transparency, and equity-oriented decision-making. The study identifies teacher educators as the nexus where critical AI literacy and HCAI converge and reframes AI literacy as a design practice through which teacher educators structure how preservice teachers first encounter AI. The study offers an evidence-based professional learning model that positions teacher educators as designers and ethical stewards of AI integration and a scalable pathway for preparing future teachers for responsible AI-enabled practice.