Teachers' Experiences Using AI and Integrating Local Culture in the Classroom

Abstract

The rapid development of artificial intelligence (AI) creates new opportunities for teachers to prepare materials, generate ideas, and design assessments, yet its use does not automatically produce contextual learning that is grounded in students' local culture. This study explores how teachers report using AI and integrating local culture into their teaching across grade levels and regions in Indonesia. Using a qualitative descriptive design, a self-administered written questionnaire was distributed via Google Form and completed by 13 teachers of elementary, junior high, senior high, and vocational schools, unevenly distributed across Medan, Bandung, Bogor, and Aceh. Data were analyzed thematically following Braun and Clarke's (2006) stages of familiarization, coding, theme development, and interpretation. Because the data reflect teachers' self-reported experiences rather than observed classroom practice, the findings describe perceptions and practices as narrated by participants, not verified behavior. The results show that teachers use AI mainly to accelerate lesson preparation, but they consistently review, edit, or cross-check its output before use, a pattern interpreted through the Islamic ethical principle of tabayyun (verification of information). Local culture is integrated mainly through everyday examples drawn from students' surroundings, yet remains dependent on individual teachers' initiative rather than structured resources, and questions of whose culture is represented and how it is validated remain largely unresolved. Across contexts, technological readiness and cultural contextualization develop unevenly rather than uniformly, pointing to the need for context-sensitive teacher training that combines AI literacy, ethical judgment (amanah and hikmah), and structured local-culture learning resources.