DOI: 10.30828/real.1929080 ISSN: 2564-7261

How Technology Leadership Affects Technology-Supported Differentiated Instruction in Schools: An Exploration via a Mediation Model

Meijie Bi, Yuting Zhang
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Differentiated instruction (DI) is a widely applied concept among today’s educators due to its power to address students’ increasingly diverse learning needs. The extensive integration of educational technology makes it necessary to consider leveraging technology’s potential to enable effective DI. Grounded in path-goal theory, this study investigated how technology leadership provides pathways that impact technology-supported DI, exploring the mediating roles of teachers’ ICT self-efficacy and DI self-efficacy. We constructed a PLS-SEM model based on 923 valid responses from Chinese school teachers. Findings indicated that teachers’ perceived technology leadership has a direct effect on their willingness and capacity to implement DI, particularly in the domains of flexible grouping, continuous personalized evaluation, and adaptive teaching. Additionally, teachers’ dual types of self-efficacy were proven to be significant mediators in the relationship between technology leadership and technology-supported DI. Hence, it is suggested that school principals and their management teams should strategically exercise leadership to cultivate a supportive technological climate and strengthen teachers’ technical and pedagogical self-efficacy to drive the implementation of technology-supported DI.

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