Reconceptualizing Teacher–AI Partnership in Inclusive Education: A Multi-Level Socio-Educational Psychology Framework

The integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into inclusive classrooms presents opportunities for personalised support alongside risks of deepening educational inequities, particularly for students with disabilities. Existing frameworks address AI in education and inclusive pedagogy largely in isolation, lacking theoretical integration that explicates psychological mechanisms through which AI systems may support or undermine belonging, participation and wellbeing of learners with diverse needs. This conceptual article addresses this gap by developing a multi-level socio-educational psychology model of teacher–AI partnership, synthesising theoretical and empirical work across disability studies, inclusive education, teacher professional agency and technology-acceptance literatures. The proposed framework connects three interdependent levels: (a) school-level conditions, including climate, governance and resources; (b) teacher-level processes, encompassing beliefs, emotions and instructional practices and (c) student-level outcomes, comprising learning, participation and wellbeing. The model positions AI as a socio-technical mediator that can function as either protective or risk factor for inclusion, contingent upon implementation conditions and disability-responsive governance structures. The article derives testable propositions and offers evidence-informed guidance for special education practice, teacher education, school leadership and participatory AI governance that safeguards children’s rights and promotes educational justice.