Teacher Educators' Perspectives on Integrating AI Tools in Teacher Education Programs: A Symbolic Interactionist Study from Pakistani Universities

This qualitative research paper investigates how the teacher educators think using artificial intelligence (AI) tools used in pre-service teacher education programmes within the Pakistani universities in the light of an O'Donoghue grounded theory research approach, a symbolic interactionism approach. The paper also acquired a better understanding of how teacher educators conceptualize, enact, and mediate AI technologies towards proceeding with the course of pedagogical innovation. By using the constructivism method in the form of in-depth interviews with twenty-four teacher educators of state-run and private institutions in Punjab, the study examines the symbolic meaning of AI tools, the social mechanisms that support decision-making on the adoption of AI tools, and the nature of interaction between the teachers, students, and AI. The collection of data included semi-structured interviews, observation of participants in AI based instructional lessons and institutional policy frameworks. The comparative analysis of the data conducted indicated subtle negotiations between traditional pedagogical values and the development of technology and created concerns about authenticity, academic integrity, and the shift towards the identity of professionalism. The findings explain how teacher educators create a sense of meaning of AI implementation in the realms of social interaction, institutional pressure, and the culture in the context of Pakistani higher education. Consequently, the research will be able to supplement improved understanding of technology usage amongst teachers in the field of teacher education as well as offer conceptual frames that can be used in policy and professional development program development in some of the emerging economies.