Teachers’ perspectives on AI integration in K-12 education: challenges, opportunities, and preliminary assessment model – a systematic review

The integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) into K-12 education holds significant promise for transforming teaching and learning processes. Central to this transformation are teachers’ perspectives, which play a key role in shaping the adoption and effective use of AI technologies in classrooms. Existing literature has not systematically synthesized these perspectives through the lens of well-established theoretical frameworks, nor developed structured models to guide evaluation efforts. To address these gaps, this study applies constructs from the UTAUT and TPACK frameworks to guide a thematic synthesis of findings, with the aim of identifying enabling and constraining factors influencing AI integration in K-12 education from the standpoint of educators. The review process followed PRISMA guidelines to ensure rigorous and systematic literature selection and analysis. Findings suggest that teachers generally exhibit a blend of optimism and cautious concern regarding the adoption of AI in K-12 education. We identified three critical factors as particularly influential: teachers’ Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK), teacher agency, and teacher affective orientations. In response to the complexities of implementation, we propose a novel preliminary assessment model, guided by the evaluative principles of UNESCO’s Global Education Monitoring Report 2023. The proposed model offers a practice-grounded application of global policy dimensions: Equity, Sustainability, Appropriateness, and Scalability, linked with synthesized classroom-level insights. It further delineates ten essential subthemes, providing a structured approach for evaluating the effectiveness of AI integration in educational settings.