A Conceptual Framework for Teacher Agency in STEM Education in the AI Era

This chapter proposes a conceptual framework for protecting teacher agency in AI-enabled STEM education. It argues that AI’s pedagogical role should mainly be judged by its effects on teachers’ autonomous professional judgment and identifies three modes of integration: (i) competence atrophy through replacement (automation that displaces teachers’ diagnostic and evaluative work); (ii) competence amplification through complementarity (AI extends teachers’ goals, perception, actions, and decisions while teachers remain in control); and (iii) competence augmentation through synergy (human–AI teams that outperform either alone). The analysis foregrounds ethical and sociotechnical risks, including dehumanization of learning, cognitive atrophy, accountability deficits, bias, and mistrust in AI, arguing these are most acute under replacement conceptualization. It concludes that a cautious, evidence-informed stance that prioritizes complementary and, where feasible, synergistic uses in GenAI integration in STEM education is needed.