CONTEXTUAL AMPLIFICATION: A MULTILEVEL ANALYSIS OF SCHOOL LOCATION'S ROLE IN SHAPING HIGH SCHOOL TEACHER READINESS FOR BLENDED LEARNING

The post-pandemic educational landscape has established Blended Learning (BL) as a core instructional modality. However, its effective implementation in Vietnam remains challenging, marked by a significant disparity between urban and rural regions. This study proposes a multilevel analytical model to examine the interactive relationship between individual-level teacher readiness factors (perceived competence, perceived benefits) and school-level contextual factors (geographic location, leadership support). Using survey data from 1,834 high school teachers of elective subjects nationwide, this research employs Multilevel Structural Equation Modeling (MSEM) to determine whether the school context (urban vs. rural/mountainous) moderates the impact of individual readiness on teachers' technology integration levels. The central hypothesis is that systemic barriers in rural areas significantly diminish the returns on teacher readiness. The analysis reveals that teacher readiness is the most potent predictor of technology integration. However, the study's core finding is that this positive effect is significantly moderated by school location; the relationship is stronger in urban settings and markedly weaker in rural areas. These findings provide empirical evidence that teacher-centric intervention policies, without addressing environmental constraints, will be insufficiently effective. The paper offers critical implications for educational policymakers and school leaders, underscoring the necessity of a dual-ecosystem approach: investing in infrastructure concurrently with enhancing teacher capacity.