Motivation to shape the future of education with Artificial Intelligence: An international comparison between Switzerland and China

As digital technologies and Artificial Intelligence (AI) continue to reshape educational environments, understanding the motivations of student teachers is critical to developing effective teacher education programmes. This study cross-culturally validates the (D) FIT-Choice (Digital Factors Influencing Teaching Choice) scale and examines motivational differences among 416 student teachers in Switzerland and China. The results offer partial validation of the (D)FIT-Choice scale, with several higher-order factors demonstrating acceptable to strong internal consistency, but limitations in model fit for some factors, indicating the need for further refinement to ensure cross-cultural applicability. When comparing the motivations of Swiss and Chinese student teachers, Swiss student teachers reported stronger social utility values and intrinsic motivations than their Chinese counterparts, suggesting a focus on personal fulfilment, social contribution and aligning career choice with personal identity, possibly shaped by Switzerland's individualistic culture and civic engagement. In contrast, Chinese student teachers showed higher perceived digital teaching competence and greater enthusiasm for integrating AI into education, differences that may reflect national educational strategies and technological infrastructures, such as China's long-standing investment in educational digitalisation and the presence of AI-focused education initiatives. These results reveal different levels of willingness to shape the future of education with AI, highlighting how cultural and systemic factors influence the motivation of student teachers. In general, this study highlights how sociocultural, economic and technological contexts shape the motivations of future teachers, emphasising the importance of adapting teacher education to local contexts to prepare future teachers to actively participate in the digital transformation of education.