Constructing Selves in AI ‐Mediated Apprenticeship Learning: Students of Colour's Narratives of Agency, Recognition and Negotiation

ABSTRACT Background Generative artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly transforming computer‐assisted learning, yet little is known about how students of colour engage with AI within authentic educational settings. Existing research has focused primarily on academic integrity, efficiency and technological adoption, with comparatively less attention to students' own experiences of AI‐mediated learning. Objectives This study examined how students of colour in online apprenticeship programs constructed narratives of agency, recognition and negotiation while engaging with generative AI and what these experiences reveal about AI‐mediated learning within apprenticeship education. Methods A qualitative narrative inquiry was conducted over 9 months with five secondary school apprentices participating in online placements across healthcare, government, finance, technology and public service. Data comprised repeated narrative interviews, classroom observations, digital artifacts and field notes, which were analyzed using manual narrative coding. Results Three interconnected patterns emerged. First, students exercised agency by strategically using, refusing, verifying, revising and disclosing AI in ways that maintained authorship and credibility. Second, participants viewed AI as procedurally fair while also recognizing that generic responses often overlooked their cultural and linguistic identities. Third, students negotiated tensions between AI‐generated outputs and institutional expectations through continual verification and adaptation, while proposing design features that would better support transparency, learning and equitable participation. Conclusions The findings suggest that effective AI‐mediated learning extends beyond technical proficiency to include learners' capacity to exercise agency, establish legitimate authorship and experience meaningful recognition within educational contexts. The study introduces Institutional AI Literacy and Recognition Bandwidth as interpretive concepts for understanding how students of colour navigate AI within apprenticeship learning and highlights the importance of designing AI systems that support transparent, equitable and culturally responsive learning experiences.