Bridging AI Literacy and AI Pedagogy in Teacher Education and Professional Development: A Multiple Case Study of AI in Education (AIEd) Certificate Programs

While research has increasingly examined teachers’ attitudes and classroom practices related to AI, teacher preparation and professional development at programmatic level remain underexplored. This multiple case study investigates how three early-established AI in Education (AIED) certificate programs in the US contextualize and design AI-related learning, focusing on the connection between AI literacy and AI pedagogy. Our cross-case analysis identifies distinct ways in which these programs cultivate teachers’ capacities to lead, design, and teach with AI. Building on these findings, we propose an AI literacy-pedagogy nexus as a framework for curricular models that position AI literacy and pedagogy as co-evolving through conceptual-ethical grounding, design-application, and collaborative mediation. This nexus supports teachers’ reflective and adaptive engagement with AI beyond an acquisition of technical skills but as a continuous practice of inquiry, reflection, and ethical response. The study provides empirical and conceptual insights for AI relevant teacher education and professional development.