Across Southeast Asia, teachers are already using AI - often without adequate support, with their own devices, and at their own expense. This brief draws on a regional desk review and teacher survey, an AI use case mapping exercise, and a case study to explore how teachers' roles are changing as AI becomes increasingly embedded in the education landscape, and what support they need to make informed decisions about when and how to use it. The evidence points to a region in transition, marked by disparities in access, support, and infrastructure. It finds that teachers are cautiously optimistic about AI in education - seeing it as an opportunity to spend more time on what matters most in the classroom, but nervous that the human dimensions of education will be lost. It offers five recommendations to support policymakers and practitioners to ensure that the design and deployment of AI in education is built around the needs and agency of the teachers who will use it. An output of the EdTech Hub, https://edtechhub.org/

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Wotton et al. - 2026 - AI in Southeast Asia The Role of Teachers Insights from teachers across the region about their rol.pdf

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