Linking AI-oriented leadership to teachers’ professional learning: the mediating role of teacher–AI collaboration and self-efficacy through a hybrid SEM–ANN approach

Purpose Previous research has not explored the association between AI-oriented leadership and teachers’ professional learning. This study investigates the relationship between AI-oriented leadership and teachers’ professional learning, revealing the mediating roles of teacher–AI collaboration and teachers’ self-efficacy between them, grounded in the social information processing theory. Design/methodology/approach A total of 430 Chinese teachers participated in this study. Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM), the bias-corrected percentile bootstrap method, and artificial neural network (ANN) analysis were employed to examine the relationships among AI-oriented leadership, teacher–AI collaboration, teachers’ self-efficacy, and teachers’ professional learning. Findings The results indicate that AI-oriented leadership is significantly and positively correlated with teachers’ professional learning, teacher–AI collaboration, and teachers’ self-efficacy. Teacher–AI collaboration and teachers’ self-efficacy not only function as independent mediators in the relationship between AI-oriented leadership and teachers’ professional learning but also jointly form a sequential mediation pathway. The ANN analysis further reveals that teachers’ self-efficacy was the strongest predictor of teachers’ professional learning, followed by teacher–AI collaboration and AI-oriented leadership. Originality/value This study empirically examines the relationship between AI-oriented leadership and teachers’ professional learning. It highlights the mediating roles of teacher–AI collaboration and teachers’ self-efficacy between them, thereby enriching the relevant literature and providing strategies for school management practices.