Austin Ross is a Senior Lecturer and Teacher Coach in the Humanizing and Culturally Affirming Teacher Preparation Program (HCAT) in the Department of Teaching, Learning, and Sociocultural Studies at the University of Arizona. In this role, he supports teacher-candidates and early-career teachers through classroom observations, post-observation coaching, lesson planning support, classroom culture development, instructional strategy work, and professional growth conversations.

 

Ross’s work focuses on humanizing teacher education, educator sustainability, and responsible AI integration in teaching and learning. He has helped lead AI integration within HCAT by developing workshops, instructional resources, and practical examples that support lesson planning, differentiation, assessment design, feedback, and workload reduction while maintaining professional judgment, student privacy, and human-centered teaching. His past AI-related work includes presenting virtually for faculty and graduate students at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) on using AI to mitigate teacher burnout, as well as leading an in-person professional development workshop on integrating AI tools into classroom instruction for educators at Joyce Clark Middle School in Sierra Vista, Arizona. His approach to AI emphasizes AI literacy, AI fluency, FERPA-conscious prompting, human-in-the-loop verification, bias review, transparency, and alignment between AI-supported materials and instructional goals.

 

Ross has developed an AI Learning Module Series for Faculty and Graduate Students with Dr. Sara Chavarria. The series is designed to help faculty, graduate students, and educators move from general AI awareness toward applied, ethical, and context-sensitive use. The modules are interactive and include activities housed in Google Classroom, creating a space where anyone is welcome to engage, reflect, and apply the material in relation to their own teaching, learning, or professional context.

 

Ross also serves as lead organizer for the HCAT Summer Institute, with Dr. Curtis Acosta as co-lead. The institute brings together teacher-candidates, recent graduates, practicing teachers, and university faculty to explore humanizing and culturally sustaining education through practical, classroom-ready professional learning. His broader professional work includes district-facing professional development, teacher mentoring, and research on how AI tools may support educator sustainability and help mitigate teacher burnout.

 

Ross is currently pursuing an Ed.D. in Leadership and Innovation at Arizona State University. His Problem of Practice examines how early-career teachers face workload structures that normalize invisible labor and contribute to burnout, threatening their long-term sustainability and their ability to maintain humanizing, relationship-centered teaching.

Ross has developed a five-part AI Learning Module Series for Faculty and Graduate Students. These interactive modules support responsible, practical, and human-centered AI use across teaching, learning, faculty development, and educator preparation. Each module includes activities housed in Google Classroom, and anyone is welcome to engage in the space.

 

 

 

 

 

The ATA Induction: HCAT Summer Institute is designed to engage and prepare upcoming teachers of record, student teachers, and other teachers throughout Arizona before the start of the 2026–2027 Grades 6–12 academic school year. This free professional learning opportunity centers humanizing and culturally sustaining education while offering practical, classroom-ready strategies for secondary educators.