Teacher Perceptions of Pedagogical Barriers Across Traditional and Digital Contexts: A Mixed-Methods Analysis

Abstract

The increasing integration of digital technologies into K–12 education has transformed teaching practices while introducing new pedagogical challenges. This study comparatively examines teachers’ perceived barriers in traditional and digital teaching contexts and identifies how the nature and prevalence of these barriers change across instructional environments. A mixed-methods design was employed with 50 K–12 teachers from urban, suburban, and rural schools in the United States. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and Likert-scale surveys and analyzed using thematic analysis and descriptive statistics. Eight major barriers were identified. In traditional teaching, classroom management was the most prevalent challenge (84%), followed by resource scarcity (78%), student diversity and differentiation (70%), and parental communication (56%). In digital teaching, the digital divide emerged as the most widespread barrier (94%), followed by virtual student engagement (90%), technological literacy (82%), and work-life balance (76%). Overall, digital barriers were reported more consistently across participants than traditional barriers, indicating that the transition to technology-mediated instruction shifts pedagogical difficulties from predominantly classroom- and resource-related issues toward infrastructural, technological, engagement, and workload-related challenges. These findings demonstrate the need for context-specific teacher support strategies that combine digital infrastructure investment, targeted technology training, engagement-oriented pedagogical development, and measures to protect teacher well-being.