The mediating roles of teacher educators’ reading habits and preferences in determining the quality of classroom instructions

Abstract

This study examined the mediating roles of teacher educators’ reading habits and preferences in determining the quality of classroom instruction. Using mixed-methods triangulation design, data were collected from highly credentialed 385 teacher educators sampled from six specialized colleges. Collected data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation, and multiple regressions. Results confirm the prevalence of instructional paradox, where high professional literacy coexists with a pedagogical translation gap. Descriptive findings reveal a pragmatic professional profile characterized by active digital primacy (M = 4.49) and professional literacy engagement (M = 4.00) compared to significantly low aesthetic preferences (M = 2.01). While 72% of respondents exhibit chronically persistent engagement (daily or near-daily reading), this consistency fails to correlate significantly with reflexive instructional practices (M < 3.00). Multiple regression models confirms that professional motivation is the strongest predictor of instructional quality (beta = 0.54, p < 0.001), yet it reveals a modality effect where fragmented digital consumption negatively mediates instructional depth (beta = -0.14, p = 0.038). Accordingly, the study identifies a modeling deficit in the mediation model. Academic status and experience provide the potential for excellence, but the current mediating role of reading habits functions as a private scholarly shield. This suggests that teacher educators read primarily to enrich their own internal cognitive synthesis rather than external pedagogical modeling. The study concludes that instructional quality in higher education is not a crisis of competence, but a crisis of translation. To bridge this gap, the research advocates for a shift from private literacy rituals to transparent pedagogy, where educators intentionally integrate their scholarly habits into the shared classroom experience. Hence, higher education institutions need to focus on how to transfer literacy experiences and optimize literary-pedagogy-integration.