The relationship between teachers' cognitive flexibility and perceptions of curriculum change: the mediating role of innovative behavior.

Background: Curriculum reforms require teachers not only to understand new curricular expectations but also to adapt them to classroom practice. In this process, teachers' cognitive resources and professional behaviors may be associated with how they interpret and respond to curriculum change. Although cognitive flexibility, innovative behavior, and perceptions of curriculum change have been examined separately in previous research, limited attention has been paid to how these constructs are jointly related within a single explanatory model. Aim: This study aims to examine the mediating role of innovative behavior in the relationship between teachers' cognitive flexibility and their perceptions of curriculum change. Method: A cross-sectional correlational survey design was employed in the study. The sample consisted of 324 teachers working in a city in Türkiye during the 2025-2026 academic year and selected through convenience sampling. The Cognitive Flexibility Inventory, the Perception of Curriculum Change Scale, and the Innovative Behavior Scale were used as data collection instruments. SPSS PROCESS Macro version 5.0 was used for data analysis. In this context, the Errors-in-Variables (EIV) approach, which accounts for measurement error and may provide less biased parameter estimates, was adopted. In addition, the bootstrap method with 5,000 resamples and 95% confidence intervals was used to evaluate the indirect effect. Results: Teachers' cognitive flexibility was positively and significantly associated with both their perceptions of curriculum change and their innovative behavior. Teachers' innovative behavior was also positively and significantly associated with their perceptions of curriculum change. The mediation analysis revealed a significant indirect relationship between teachers' cognitive flexibility and their perceptions of curriculum change through innovative behavior. Since the indirect effect was significant while the direct relationship became non-significant after innovative behavior was included in the model, the findings indicated an indirect-only mediation pattern. Conclusion: This study suggests that innovative behavior helps explain the relationship between teachers' cognitive flexibility and their perceptions of curriculum change. Teachers with higher levels of cognitive flexibility may be more likely to report higher levels of innovative behavior, which in turn is associated with more positive perceptions of curriculum change.