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Kindergarten Teachers’ Perceptions of AI Literacy Education for Young Children

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Abstract

Educators and researchers have increasingly recognized the importance of AI literacy. Despite the growing body of AI literacy literature, the challenges and enablers for introducing AI literacy for kindergarten children is still underexplored and undertheorized in early childhood education. It is critical to understand the challenges and enablers associated with promoting AI literacy and perceptions in kindergartens needs to be further researched and evaluated. This study aims to identify teachers’ views on the importance of AI literacy in kindergartens and the challenges and enablers of promoting AI literacy in kindergartens. Data was collected from 15 teachers through individual interviews. It was found that the four main challenges of promoting AI literacy in kindergarten classrooms, including lack of school support, lack of children’s comprehensive ability, insufficient teacher knowledge of AI, and lack of curriculum guidelines. The three main enablers of promoting AI literacy in kindergarten classrooms are government support, school support, and social needs. We also found that more than half of teachers in this study considered AI literacy education is crucial for kindergarten children. This study develops an AI literacy policy framework for young children that includes three dimensions—governance, pedagogical, and operational and management. Based on the findings, suggestions for educators, curriculum developers, policymakers, and researchers are discussed.

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Acknowledgements

I am grateful to the kindergarten teachers who participated in this research; without their contributions, this paper would not be possible. I want to thank the two anonymous reviewers whose suggestions helped improve and clarify this manuscript.

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  1. Faculty of Education, The University of Hong Kong, Room 219, Runme Shaw Building, Pokfulam Road, Pok Fu Lam, Hong Kong SAR, China

    Jiahong Su

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  1. Jiahong Su
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Correspondence to Jiahong Su.

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Su, J. Kindergarten Teachers’ Perceptions of AI Literacy Education for Young Children. Int J Technol Des Educ (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10798-024-09876-8

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