From Digital Tools to Teacher Creativity: Managing Character-Based ELT in the Age of Artificial Intelligence

Artificial intelligence is reshaping English Language Teaching, yet digital adoption alone does not guarantee creative, ethical, or meaningful learning. This study addresses the limited integration of classroom practice and educational-management perspectives by examining how educators position artificial intelligence in relation to teacher creativity, character formation, and human-centered learning. A qualitative two-wave focus group design involved eleven educators and academic practitioners: six participants in a management-oriented discussion in March 2026 and five in a teaching-oriented discussion in August 2026. Data were interpreted through reflexive thematic analysis. The findings show that artificial intelligence improves lesson preparation, material design, assessment, and administrative efficiency, but unguided use can encourage dependency, plagiarism, shallow thinking, and reduced originality. Teachers therefore remain essential as pedagogical decision-makers, emotional guides, and builders of honesty, responsibility, empathy, and confidence. Institutions must complement access with policy, professional development, digital infrastructure, and teacher-parent collaboration. The study introduces the CREATE framework; Character formation, Responsible guidance, Educator creativity, Academic integrity, Technology-pedagogy alignment, and Emotional-ethical support, as a practical architecture for managing human-led artificial-intelligence use in character-based English Language Teaching.