Exploring knowledge application and professional constraints in Chinese literature teachers’ professional learning

As professional development (PD) becomes increasingly central to improving instructional quality in Chinese literature education, questions remain regarding how teachers translate workshop learning into classroom practice and how contextual factors shape this process. This study examines knowledge application and professional constraints in a PD workshop for Chinese literature teachers, focusing on participant demographics, perceived workshop helpfulness, knowledge enactment, and professional reading habits. A mixed-methods design was adopted, combining quantitative data from an online questionnaire ( N = 156) with qualitative insights from semi-structured interviews with 15 teachers selected through purposive sampling. Descriptive statistics indicated a high level of satisfaction, with 71% of participants rating the workshop as “Very Helpful,” a perception that did not significantly differ by gender (χ², p = 0.40). However, inferential analysis revealed a significant relationship between school type and knowledge application (χ², p = 0.04), suggesting that institutional context may be associated with differences in reported implementation rather than directly determining it. A majority of participants reported teaching approximately 24 lessons per week, and 76% indicated reading only one to five books annually. Although interview data frequently described workload as a perceived constraint on sustained professional reading, the quantitative results do not establish a causal relationship between workload and reading volume. Alternative explanations, including personal reading preferences, family responsibilities, and individual motivational differences, may also contribute to this pattern. More experienced teachers demonstrated significantly higher reading engagement (ANOVA, p = 0.01). Qualitative findings further illuminated how institutional bureaucracy, workload intensity, and limited structural support were experienced as contextual challenges affecting teachers’ capacity to enact newly acquired pedagogical knowledge. By integrating quantitative trends with contextualized teacher perspectives, the study demonstrates that professional learning is shaped by the interaction between enabling knowledge acquisition, reflective engagement, and organizational conditions. The findings highlight the importance of school-level support and sustainable professional learning structures in facilitating meaningful pedagogical development.