Cultivating Critical Being in Iranian Pre-Service English Teachers: A Mixed-Methods Study of Generative AI Integration

Generative Artificial Intelligence (GAI) is rapidly reshaping education, challenging teacher‐education programs to move beyond technical training toward the cultivation of criticality. This sequential explanatory mixed-methods study examined how structured engagement with GAI can foster critical being —the integration of critical thinking, self-reflection, and action—among Iranian pre-service English teachers. Sixty third-year students at Farhangian University were assigned to either an intervention group (n = 30) that completed an eight-week GAI-based module or a control group (n = 30) following the standard curriculum. Quantitative results from the Cornell Critical Thinking Test (Level Z) revealed significant gains in critical thinking (F(1,58) = 20.17, p < .001, partial η² = .26) and a marked reduction in AI anxiety (t(29) = 7.85, p < .001, d = 1.43) for the intervention group. Qualitative analysis of interviews, reflective journals, and AI-integrated lesson plans highlighted four interrelated processes: (1) a metacognitive shift from passive user to critical interrogator, (2) dialogic prompting as a form of critical dialogue, (3) heightened epistemic vigilance toward bias, and (4) pedagogical transformation into designers of critical AI-based curricula. Integrating these findings, the study proposes a Critical Integrative Pedagogy for AI (CIP-AI) framework, demonstrating that carefully scaffolded GAI activities can empower future teachers to use AI as a catalyst for human criticality rather than a substitute for it.