The Mediating Role of Agency in the Relationship Between Student Teachers’ Perception of Teacher Credibility and Teaching Anxiety

Authors

Keywords:

Teacher credibility, agency, teaching anxiety, student teachers

Abstract

Purpose: This study aimed to investigate the mediating role of student teachers’ agency in the relationship between perceived teacher credibility and teaching anxiety.

Methodology: This applied, descriptive–correlational study included 1,364 student teachers in grades two and above at Farhangian University in Kurdistan Province. A sample of 275 participants was selected using systematic random sampling. Data were collected via the Teacher Credibility Scale (McCroskey & Teven, 1999), Student Teacher Agency Scale (Jääskelä et al., 2016), and Teaching Anxiety Scale (Hart, 1987). Analyses were conducted using Pearson correlation and structural equation modeling (SEM) in SPSS and LISREL.

Findings: The direct effect of teacher credibility on teaching anxiety was not significant (p>0.05). Teacher credibility had a positive and significant direct effect on student teachers’ agency (p<0.05), while agency had a negative and significant direct effect on teaching anxiety (p<0.05). The final SEM model confirmed the indirect effect of teacher credibility on teaching anxiety through agency. Goodness-of-fit indices indicated satisfactory model fit.

Conclusion: Credible teachers foster student teachers’ agency—through supportive behaviors, pedagogical clarity, and positive interpersonal interactions—which in turn reduces their teaching anxiety. Enhancing agency-related components such as self-efficacy, competence, meaningfulness, and motivation plays a key role in lowering anxiety levels among student teachers.

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Zandi, K., & Hosseini, S. A. (1405). The Mediating Role of Agency in the Relationship Between Student Teachers’ Perception of Teacher Credibility and Teaching Anxiety. Sociology of Education, 12(1), 1-14. https://www.jedusocio.com/index.php/se/article/view/636

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