This concept paper examines the relationship between Artificial Intelligence (AI) readiness and teacher

motivation among secondary school educators in Sabah. AI is conceptualized as machine-based systems

embedded with algorithms that simulate human cognition, deliver rapid responses, analyze learning data, and

adapt to individual learner needs. Teacher motivation, in contrast, is defined as the internal drive that

influences behavior, emotions, and cognition in accomplishing professional tasks. Adopting a quantitative,

non-experimental survey design, this study employs questionnaires as the primary data collection instrument.

The anticipated findings suggest an absence of a significant relationship between AI and teacher motivation.

Despite this, the study is expected to yield valuable insights for policymakers and educational stakeholders,

particularly the Ministry of Education Malaysia, in formulating effective training programs and intervention

significant impact on various sectors, including the education sector. The changes occurring in the education

sector have prompted the Ministry of Education Malaysia (KPM) to revise the Digital Education Policy in

2023 (KPM, 2023). One of the terraces contained in the policy is Terrace 2, which aims to empower the use of

digital technology among teachers so they can become educators who are proficient in using AI technology

and apply it to teaching and learning in the classroom. The efforts made by the Ministry of Education are

because AI has great potential in helping teachers apply more interactive teaching methods. Additionally, AI

can assist teachers in lesson planning, thereby enabling them to focus entirely on more valuable pedagogy

(Norbert et.al., 2025). However, according to Ding et al. (2025), teacher motivation plays a key role in

enabling teachers to apply AI in teaching and learning. Therefore, teachers need to have strong motivation to

integrate AI into their teaching in order to meet the Ministry of Education's desire for Malaysian education to

the AI-4-Educator initiative in collaboration with the Ministry of Human Resources through HRD Corp

(Hasimi Muhamad, 2025), cooperation with Google and the Gemini AI Academy to develop creative students

(Akma Salleh, 2024), and many more.

Although the Ministry of Education has implemented various initiatives to achieve an approach to the use of

AI in education, there are constraints that are faced. This is because the inconsistent support from the

administration toward teachers in the use of AI has caused teachers' motivation to be unstable (Bishara et.al.,

2025). When this situation occurs, it makes it difficult for teachers to develop the level of AI usage that should

be able to help them apply effective teaching methods. According to Du et al. (2025), this situation occurs

because most teachers experience limitations in skills and infrastructure, which subsequently leads to a lack of

motivation toward AI, even though in reality, AI is capable of assisting teachers, especially in teaching.

This study was conducted to achieve the following objectives:

To study the relationship between AI usage readiness and the motivation of secondary school teachers in

Sabah.

According to Mohd Amzari Tumiran et al. (2025), AI refers to a branch of computer science that aims to

develop systems capable of performing tasks that typically require human intelligence. This study will examine

two perspectives of teachers regarding the use of AI, including:

Perceived ease of use refers to teachers' perception that AI is easy to use without requiring high skills. The

easy-to-use response describes the teachers' willingness to accept the presence of AI through their user

experience. Teachers' acceptance of AI can be seen if the AI platform used is user-friendly, simplifies the

teaching process, has clear instructions, and can improve the effectiveness of teaching and learning.

According to Emy Mumin (2018), motivation refers to the needs, desires, incentives, goals, and other factors

that drive teacher motivation. Based on this study, teacher motivation is viewed from three aspects, namely:

The need for power refers to the teacher's desire to influence students in teaching and learning. Typically,

teaching methods, and activity management. Teachers who want power are usually not doing it for their own

self-interest, but rather to bring about a change in creating a more conducive and organized learning

students in the classroom can feel valued, accepted, and comfortable to reach their full potential in academics.

Teachers with this desire will bring about a change not only in the classroom but will also contribute to the

formation of a harmonious school climate and a more sustainable learning community-oriented environment.

The need for achievement is a motivation for teachers to improve effectiveness in teaching and learning by

setting clear academic goals and striving to enhance professional levels to a higher degree. Teachers with a

strong desire to achieve high results will typically demonstrate persistent effort to reach them, even when faced

with various obstacles and challenges. This happens because teachers are usually not satisfied with their

average achievements, and as a result, they will look for ways to achieve higher results than they usually do.

an important role in determining the level of teachers' use of AI in classroom teaching and learning. The study

explains that teachers with high confidence are not only likely to apply AI in their teaching but also capable of

integrating AI into their students' learning.

However, Bawaneh et al. (2025) in their study findings found that there is a relationship between AI and

teacher motivation. This indicates that teachers have a high motivation to integrate AI into their teaching. In

addition, high teacher motivation increases teachers' confidence to explore new and more effective pedagogical

approaches. This happened because teachers see AI as an opportunity that can provide them with various

benefits, especially in terms of effectiveness in teaching and learning. When teachers have such an attitude,

they will certainly interpret AI in a way that is suitable for their students to ensure they understand the lessons

being taught.

AI and secondary school teacher motivation in Sabah, which is a survey-based study.

The population in this study consists of 15,231 secondary school teachers from daily schools in the state of

Sabah. To select the sample for this study, the researcher then used the simple random sampling method.

Through simple random sampling, the sample size used in this study was 375 people. The sample size

determination in this study refers to the Krejcie and Morgan sample size determination table.

This study uses a questionnaire instrument adapted from instruments developed by previous researchers.

However, the instrument has been modified to suit the context of this study. The Artificial Intelligence

was also taken from the David McClelland Motives Questionnaire instrument developed by David McClelland.

Although this instrument is adapted from an instrument developed by previous researchers, it will undergo a

process of validity and reliability testing during the pilot study implementation. The implementation of this

process is to ensure that the instruments used by the researcher are suitable for use in this study.

The Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) software was used in this study to analyze data on the

Generally speaking, the presence of AI has had a significant impact on the world of education, which in turn

has had a very significant effect on teachers' instruction. This is because the AI introduced in the world of

education is capable of bringing a new change to teachers' teaching, making it more interactive and creative,

use of AI among secondary school teachers in the state of Sabah.

The words of appreciation are addressed to all parties who have assisted the researcher in successfully writing

this article.

AI Academy to develop creative lessons. Taken from https://www.tvsarawak.my/2024/07/31/dewan-

negara-kpm-bekerjasama-dengan-google-gemini-ai-academy-bangun-pelajaran-kreatif/. On 5

September 2025.

Education. Kota Kinabalu: University Malaysia Sabah.

Methods Approaches. Sage Publication Inc

https://www.moe.gov.my/storage/files/shares/Dasar/Dasar%20Pendidikan%20Digital/Dasar%20Pendi

dikan%20Digital.pdf. On 4 September 2025.