Teaching for digital citizenship in AI-infused societies: how social science teacher educators’ disciplinary backgrounds relate to professional digital competence across Swedish institutions

Social science teacher educators prepare future teachers for digital citizenship education in AI-infused societies but the relationship between their professional backgrounds and their professional digital competence (PDC) in this multidisciplinary context is unclear. A mixed-methods survey study involving 47 teacher educators from the 16 Swedish institutions offering social science teacher education was therefore conducted to examine these relationships through a postdigital lens. While most teacher educators acknowledged the need to address digital citizenship, disciplinary background and schoolteaching experience were significantly related to self-reported PDC for such teaching. Translational challenges were identified in areas ranging from content knowledge to pedagogical modelling, particularly in relation to AI, with implications for institutional support in postdigital contexts.