European Trade Union Committee for Education

At the Iceland Teachers' Union (KI) we believe sustainable school improvement can only happen when teachers themselves are active leaders in professional learning and policy development. Our union is placing a stronger emphasis than ever before on professional development. The reason is clear: teachers are deeply concerned that the unchecked, chaotic rise of Artificial Intelligence in schools has overtaken essential public policy.

Technology is moving faster than regulation. Without a clear national strategy or an adequate support framework for educator training, teachers are being left to manage the implications of AI on their own. We believe this is unsustainable. Our increased focus on professional development is a direct response to this reality—ensuring our members receive the support they need today, while we continue to demand a more structured, well-funded framework for teacher CPD from the authorities.

Rather than treating AI solely as a technical issue, KI chose to frame the work as both:

1. a professional learning process for teachers,

2. a collaborative policy-development process where teachers actively shape the future use of AI in schools.

This dual approach has proven important. Teachers are not only participants in training, but co-creators of knowledge, ethical guidelines and pedagogical approaches. Therefore, functioning simultaneously as professional development and as democratic school-development initiatives.

In Iceland, approximately 600 members of the Icelandic Teachers’ Union (Kennarasamband Íslands – KI) have since November 2025 participated in a large-scale pilot project connected to artificial intelligence in education. The initiative was developed in cooperation with the Ministry of Education and Children and the Directorate of Education and School Development with the Icelandic Teachers Union as an advisory member and represents the first systematic attempts in Iceland to combine teacher professional development, innovation and national policy formation within the field of AI.

The project was established in response to the rapid emergence of generative AI technologies and the growing recognition that schools, teachers and education systems needed structured opportunities to explore both the possibilities and risks connected to these tools. Rather than introducing AI through purely administrative or technology-driven processes, the Icelandic approach has deliberately placed teachers at the centre of the project.

As part of the pilot, teachers across different school levels have worked directly with AI systems developed by Anthropic and Google. The purpose has not simply been technical training in the use of digital tools, but broader professional exploration of how AI may influence teaching, assessment, inclusion, student support, workload, ethics and the overall role of teachers within future education systems. A key objective of the initiative has been to support the development of a national framework for the use of AI within Icelandic education. Teachers participating in the pilots have therefore functioned simultaneously as practitioners, learners and contributors to policy development.

This has created an important link between classroom realities and emerging national strategies on AI in education. The project has also functioned as a significant form of teacher professional development. Through collaborative workshops, experimentation, professional dialogue and shared reflection, participating teachers have developed greater confidence and competence in approaching AI critically and with pedagogical goals at the forefront. The work has strengthened professional agency by ensuring that teachers themselves actively shape how these technologies may be used responsibly in schools.

Initial outcomes from the pilot indicate:

• increased teacher confidence and competence regarding AI, stronger collaboration between schools and teachers across educational levels,

• improved understanding of ethical challenges connected to AI, and greater teacher involvement in shaping future educational policy.

The Icelandic experience demonstrates that union involvement and teacher participation are essential if AI implementation in schools is to strengthen educational quality, professional trust and a human-centred, pedagogy based on democratic values and social dialogue. The project also illustrates how professional development can move beyond traditional courses and instead become an active process of co-creating the future framework of education itself.

An important aspect of the Icelandic approach is that the professional expertise and judgement of teachers is positioned at the centre of implementation. KI has consistently argued that technological development in education cannot be imposed top-down through administrative systems alone. Successful implementation depends on trust in teachers, professional autonomy and structured opportunities for collective learning.

The initiative has also strengthened the role of the union as a professional voice in education policy, not only as a negotiating body. This is particularly important at a time when teachers across many countries face growing workloads, rapid societal change and increasing expectations linked to digital transformation.

KI believes that teacher professional development is most effective when it is: teacher-led, connected to real classroom practice, collaborative rather than individualised, and linked directly to broader educational policy and professional agency.

The Icelandic experience demonstrates that union-led initiatives can play a crucial role in ensuring that innovation in education strengthens professionalism rather than weakens it.

The rapid development of AI is also increasingly influencing collective bargaining and discussions about the future value of the teaching profession. As part of an ongoing negotiation process between KI and public employers on the value and development of teachers’ work, the effects of AI on teaching, workload, professional responsibilities and educational quality are ever more often mentioned in formal discussions. The question is whether and how technological changes may affect the role, expertise and professional contribution of teachers in future school systems. Preliminary results from this work are expected in October 2026.

The Icelandic experience demonstrates that teacher-led and union-supported initiatives can play a crucial role in ensuring that innovation in education strengthens professionalism, trust and teacher agency rather than weakening them.

KI believes that artificial intelligence will become one of the defining issues for the future of education and the teaching profession. For that reason, we see professional development in AI not as a temporary project, but as a long-term investment in teachers, schools and society. Our approach is built on the principle that teachers must not simply adapt to technological change — they must actively shape it. At KI’s recent congress we adopted our first public policy regarding AI, both regarding professional development and its effect on the work of teachers and on collective bargaining.

By placing teachers at the centre of experimentation, professional dialogue and policy development, we strengthen both professional agency and educational quality. AI should support and strengthen human relationships, pedagogy, professional judgement and inclusive learning, not replace them. KI’s experience shows that union-led professional development can help ensure that technological innovation strengthens trust, collaboration and democratic participation within education systems while preparing schools responsibly for the future.