Teachers’ readiness to develop adolescents’ ethical competence in interaction with artificial intelligence for educational purposes: a baseline study

the article addresses the issue of teachers’ readiness to foster adolescents’ ethical competence in the context of the rapid integration of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies into educational practice. Ethical competence is defined as an integrative personal quality that encompasses knowledge, skills, and value orientations required for the responsible and critical use of digital resources. The purpose of the study was to assess the baseline level of teachers’ digital and ethical competence as the foundation for designing a formative pedagogical experiment aimed at developing adolescents’ ethical readiness for AI. The empirical basis consisted of a survey of 512 teachers from the Gazprom School of Saint Petersburg. The questionnaire included sections on digital competence, AI use, ethical awareness in situational cases, and teachers’ readiness for mentoring. The findings demonstrate that while teachers show a high level of digital literacy and a positive attitude toward innovation, their understanding of ethical issues in AI use remains fragmented. The results are of practical value for teacher professional development programs and the design of models for fostering students’ ethical competence in education.

artificial intelligence in education, ethical competence, digital literacy, adolescents and the digital environment