Javanese work culture enhances teachers’ pedagogical competence through the mediation of digital agency in primary schools

Nur Wakhidah Fitriyani (Universitas Muria Kudus)
Sri Utaminingsih (Universitas Muria Kudus)
Ahmad Hariyadi (Universitas Muria Kudus)
Hanif Fadlur Rahman (International Islamic University Islamabad, Islamabad)

Bulletin of Educational Management and Innovation
Vol. 4 No. 2 (2026): In Progress

Background: Digital transformation has intensified demands on teachers’ pedagogical competence. Although schoolwork culture, teacher agency, and pedagogical competence have been widely discussed, these constructs have largely been examined separately. Moreover, local cultural values are often treated as contextual backgrounds rather than empirically tested resources that may shape teachers’ adaptive professional capacity. Consequently, limited evidence explains how organisational work culture and local collaborative values jointly relate to pedagogical competence through teachers’ Digital-Adaptive Pedagogical Agency. Purpose: This study aims to analyse the influence of work culture and Javanese collaborative values on pedagogical competence through Digital-Adaptive Pedagogical Agency among elementary school teachers. Method: The study employed a quantitative approach using Structural Equation Modelling–Partial Least Squares, involving 160 teachers from 15 elementary schools in Jepara Regency, Indonesia. Findings: Work Culture showed the strongest positive relationship with Digital-Adaptive Pedagogical Agency (β = 0.481), followed by Javanese Collaborative Values (β = 0.249). Digital-Adaptive Pedagogical Agency was the strongest direct predictor of Pedagogical Competence (β = 0.425), while the model explained 57.5% of the variance in Pedagogical Competence. Mediation analysis further showed that Digital-Adaptive Pedagogical Agency significantly mediated the relationships between Work Culture and Pedagogical Competence (β = 0.204) and between Javanese Collaborative Values and Pedagogical Competence (β = 0.106). These findings indicate that organisational conditions have a stronger practical association with teachers’ adaptive pedagogical capacity than local collaborative values, although both represent relevant contextual resources. Implication: The findings suggest that efforts to strengthen pedagogical competence should extend beyond technology training by developing collaborative work cultures, reflective professional learning, and culturally responsive forms of teacher collaboration. The study contributes an integrated empirical model that positions Digital-Adaptive Pedagogical Agency as a key mechanism linking organisational and local cultural resources with teachers’ pedagogical competence in the context of digital education.