Mixed-methods study links information literacy, support and cooperation with teacher agency among online Chinese language teachers

A mixed-methods study of 312 international Chinese language teachers found that teacher information literacy, school support and student cooperation were independently associated with teacher agency in online or blended teaching, while four qualitative cases identified emotional adaptation, professional reflection and identity negotiation as recurring ways teachers described responding to changing demands. The findings concern teachers working in international Chinese language education, most of whom taught in China, and do not establish causal relationships.

Yi Wu of Qingdao Hengxing University of Science and Technology used an explanatory sequential mixed-methods design. The quantitative phase surveyed 312 teachers with at least one semester of online or blended teaching experience. The subsequent qualitative phase examined four purposively selected survey participants, two women and two men, using three successive semi-structured interviews per participant, classroom observations, teaching journals, reflective materials and supplementary teaching documents. The cases varied in age, education, experience and teaching context; three teachers taught in China and one in Malaysia.

The questionnaire measured teacher agency through identity, behavioral and regulatory dimensions using 29 items on five-point scales. It also assessed teacher information literacy, school support, colleague collaboration and student cooperation. Confirmatory factor analysis indicated acceptable model fit within the survey sample, including CFI = 0.989 and RMSEA = 0.028. Internal consistency coefficients ranged from 0.766 to 0.945. The measurement model and substantive analyses used the same 312 participants, however, so the fit results did not constitute independent cross-sample validation.

Teachers reported a mean teacher-agency score of 3.45. Behavioral agency had the highest dimension mean at 3.56, compared with 3.48 for regulatory agency and 3.33 for identity agency. Paired comparisons found identity agency was significantly lower than behavioral agency and regulatory agency, while the difference between behavioral and regulatory agency was not statistically significant at p = 0.055. These scores describe variation among the three dimensions in this sample rather than changes over time.

All four examined conditions were positively correlated with teacher agency in bivariate analyses. School support and student cooperation each had a correlation of r = 0.595 with agency, teacher information literacy had r = 0.579 and colleague collaboration had r = 0.417, with all reported p-values below 0.001. A simultaneous multiple regression then entered the four conditions together. Teacher information literacy had the largest standardized coefficient, β = 0.314, followed by school support at β = 0.290 and student cooperation at β = 0.269; each was significant at p < 0.001. The full model accounted for 53.9% of the variance in agency, with an adjusted R² of 0.533.

Colleague collaboration did not have a statistically significant unique association in that model after the other three conditions were considered simultaneously, with β = 0.057 and p = 0.213. This does not mean collaboration was absent from participants’ experiences. Qualitative accounts described collective lesson planning and research-group activities as sources of professional learning and support that reduced workload and pressure. The authors interpret the statistical pattern as suggesting that collaboration may overlap with broader institutional and professional support, rather than proving such overlap or showing that collaboration is unimportant.

Thematic analysis of the four cases identified three recurring psychological-adaptation patterns. Emotional adaptation included uncertainty, anxiety, pressure and efforts to manage professional demands. One early-career participant described being “really nervous and scared” before lessons and said greater preparation gradually reduced the uncertainty. Another participant said pressure could be motivating, illustrating that emotional adaptation was not uniformly negative.

Professional reflection appeared as participants reviewed lessons, reconsidered instructional choices and adjusted materials and activities. One participant said, “After each lesson, I would think about which place could be perfected,” while another described research as a way to record reflections and continue exploring in practice. Identity negotiation concerned teachers’ reconsideration of professional roles, expectations and competence. One participant described doubting career suitability when effort did not appear to produce expected results, then seeking advice and reconsidering professional priorities. Another connected students’ recognition of teaching competence with the establishment of trust.

The mixed-methods findings converge in showing teacher agency as related to personal capacities and professional surroundings, while the qualitative cases explain how four teachers interpreted those circumstances. Psychological adaptation was not tested as a mediator or causal mechanism, so the themes should not be treated as evidence that emotional, reflective or identity-related responses cause higher agency. The research was cross-sectional and relied on self-reports for its quantitative phase, limiting causal inference and making common-method bias and socially desirable responding possible. The sample came from particular online educational settings and was not geographically representative, while the four purposively selected cases supported detailed exploration rather than broad representation. The authors note that larger, more heterogeneous and longitudinal studies could examine how agency and adaptation change over time, but the present findings should remain bounded by the observed associations and reported experiences.

Subject of Research: Teacher agency and psychological adaptation among international Chinese language teachers in online and blended teaching

Article Title: Teacher agency in online teaching: contextual conditions and psychological adaptation experiences among international Chinese language teachers

Article References: Wu, Y. (2026). Teacher agency in online teaching: contextual conditions and psychological adaptation experiences among international Chinese language teachers. Frontiers in Psychology, 17, Article 1953643. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2026.1953643

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2026.1953643

Keywords: teacher agency, online teaching, Chinese language education, mixed methods, information literacy, student cooperation, school support, psychological adaptation, professional reflection, identity negotiation, Teacher, agency