Operationalising ethics in AI teacher education: a qualitative content analysis of ethics-explicit ite and CPD initiatives in Europe

Artificial intelligence in education is expanding, yet how teacher education initiatives translate ethical guidance into professional learning remains unclear. This study examines how ethics is operationalised in the public materials of European initiatives that explicitly address AI’s ethical implications. Criterion sampling from an inventory of 86 initiatives produced 17 cases spanning ITE and CPD. Qualitative content analysis of 656 excerpts generated seven themes across three tiers. Although all were selected for explicit ethical content, ethics was named without elaboration in seven of 16 accessible cases, stated as an aim in three and embedded in a structured activity in six; none evidenced assessment or institutional embedding. Ethics-explicit provision names ethical concerns more readily than it operationalises them. The study contributes an analytical distinction between explicit ethical commitments and their documented operationalisation, helping teacher educators and programme designers examine how ethical aims are translated into learning activities, assessment, and institutional support.