The Mediating Role of Agency in the Relationship Between Student Teachers’ Perception of Teacher Credibility and Teaching Anxiety
Keywords:
Teacher credibility, agency, teaching anxiety, student teachersAbstract
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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Copyright (c) 2025 Khalil Zandi, Seyed Adnan Hosseini (Author)
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