Dialogical ecopedagogy with generative AI: a postdigital framework for critical thinking and planetary justice in higher education

Generative artificial intelligence (AI) is entering higher education with promises of personalization and efficiency, but its rapid adoption brings profound ethical and ecological risks. This paper develops the AI–Dialogue–Planet (ADP) model, which integrates Freirean dialogical pedagogy, ecopedagogy’s call to reconnect human learning with the Earth, postdigital critique of technological solutionism and surveillance capitalism, and Wholeness Systems Thinking (WST). The model was derived through a theoretical-conceptual methodology, utilizing a multiperspectival approach to synthesize these critical traditions into a pedagogical framework. The model positions AI as a contested socio-technical system rather than a neutral problem solver. It proposes a sequence of learning activities where students critically examine the narratives and environmental impact embedded in AI outputs, audit data sources and biases, and reconstruct more just and sustainable digital texts that inform concrete action. By incorporating WST’s shift from a Maximization Mindset to a Purposeful Mindset and its concept of ‘understanding of wholeness’, ADP extends critical and ecological literacy to purposeful system-level transformation. The model offers higher education a structured way to build critical thinking, AI, and ecopedagogical literacy, and ethical digital practice while maintaining active engagement with emerging technologies.