The TEACH-AI project: Co-designing Practices for Socio-Educational Services

This paper provides an overview of the TEACH-AI (Transformative Educational
Approaches for Civic and Human-centered AI) research project, which focuses on the co-design of practices and policies related to the use of Generative Artificial Intelligence in Italian socio-educational services. The study uses an action research approach to investigate AI literacy and co-develop shared guidelines for its adoption. The research examines the integration of AI through three key theoretical concepts – professional capability, affordance-
in-practice, and sentiment – which together frame the implications of AI for professionals.
Initial results, obtained through the PAIR questionnaire administered to 467 workers from 19 social cooperatives in Italy, revealed an uneven and selective use of AI and a high level of expectation for its future application in both strategic and operational functions. The aim of the research is to formulate strategies that improve the effectiveness of services while maintaining AI as a support tool and safeguarding the human and relational dimension at the heart of socio-educational work.