FUTURE TEACHERS' ENTREPRENEURIAL INTENTIONSIN EDUCATION: BARRIERS AND OPPORTUNITIES OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

Abstract

This research investigates the link between AI literacy and the entrepreneurial intentions of future teachers in the context of digitalization of education. It aims to address the systemic discrepancy between the growing possibilities of using generative AI to create educational products and the insufficient inclusion of entrepreneurial skills in traditional teacher education courses, especially in post-Soviet countries. A cross-sectional online survey was administered to a cohort of students of A. Margulan Pavlodar Pedagogical University (N = 100), using the author's questionnaire assessing AI literacy, entrepreneurial intentions and barriers. Methods such as descriptive statistics, reliability testing, principal component analysis, Spearman rank correlation, and exploratory group comparisons were used. Mean scores for AI literacy and entrepreneurial intentions were 4.12 (SD = 0.83) and 3.81 (SD = 1.09), respectively. A moderate positive correlation was found between these constructs (ρ = 0.398, p < 0.001). A preliminary comparison of the groups showed that students who were fully or partially employed in the field of education had higher entrepreneurial-intention scores. The most common obstacle was a lack of marketing/sales skills (59%). The results indicate the need for further study of interdisciplinary modules related to the ethical application of artificial intelligence, educational product development, marketing and entrepreneurship in the context of teacher education. Given the cross-sectional design and reliance on self-reported data, the study does not allow predicting, establishing cause-and-effect relationships, or identifying entrepreneurial behavior.