Achievement goal orientations and digital literacy among primary and secondary school physical education teachers: the serial mediating roles of person-organization fit and positive coping.

INTRODUCTION

Teachers play a pivotal role in advancing educational digital transformation, and the digital literacy (DL) of primary and secondary school physical education (PE) teachers is crucial to the effective integration of digital technologies into physical education. This study examined the relationships between achievement goal orientations (AGOs) and digital literacy among primary and secondary school physical education teachers. It further investigated the specific mediating effects and serial mediating effects of person-organization fit (POF) and positive coping (PC) in these relationships.

METHODS

A questionnaire survey was conducted with 1,654 primary and secondary school physical education teachers. Data were collected using the Teachers' Achievement Goals in Work Questionnaire, the Perceived Person-Organization Fit Scale, the Positive Coping Subscale, and the Digital Literacy Scale for Primary and Secondary School Physical Education Teachers. SPSS 26.0 was used to conduct descriptive statistics, correlation analyses, and tests for common method bias. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was conducted using AMOS 29.0. Mastery goals (MGs), performance-approach goals (PAGs), and performance-avoidance goals were simultaneously entered into the model to examine their independent effects on digital literacy and to test the serial mediating effects of person-organization fit and positive coping. The indirect effects were examined using the bootstrap method with 5,000 resamples.

RESULTS

First, mastery goals and performance-approach goals significantly and positively predicted teachers' digital literacy, whereas the direct effect of performance-avoidance goals on digital literacy was not significant. Second, mastery goals, performance-approach goals, and performance-avoidance goals were each indirectly associated with digital literacy through person-organization fit. Third, mastery goals and performance-approach goals showed significant indirect effects on digital literacy through positive coping, whereas the mediating effect of positive coping in the relationship between performance-avoidance goals and digital literacy was not significant. Fourth, person-organization fit and positive coping exerted significant serial mediating effects in the relationships between each achievement goal orientation and digital literacy. In particular, the association between performance-avoidance goals and digital literacy was primarily transmitted through the indirect pathways involving person-organization fit and positive coping.

DISCUSSION: Achievement goal orientations represent important individual-level factors associated with the digital literacy of primary and secondary school physical education (PE) teachers, while person-organization fit and positive coping constitute important organizational and psychological mechanisms underlying these associations. Schools should guide teachers toward adaptive achievement goals; strengthen institutional support for digital teaching; enhance teachers' fit with organizational values, requirements, and resources; and cultivate their capacity to cope positively with digital teaching challenges. These efforts may contribute to the development of teachers' digital literacy and the effective digital transformation of physical education.