Can Digital Literacy Sustain Inclusive Teachers? The Mediating Roles of Time Poverty and Efficacy Between Digital Literacy and Burnout

Severe occupational burnout among inclusive teachers poses a significant threat to building resilient and sustainable inclusive education systems. In the context of educational digital transformation, digital literacy emerges as a vital resource with the potential to reduce excessive job demands. However, the underlying pathways of this protective role remain underexplored. Addressing whether technological empowerment can effectively sustain inclusive educators, this study examined the serial mediating roles of time poverty and inclusive teaching efficacy in the relationship between digital literacy and teacher burnout. Based on a cross-sectional sample of 492 Chinese inclusive teachers, observed-variable path analysis was used to test the theoretical model across three core dimensions of occupational burnout. The results confirmed a full serial mediation model: digital literacy yielded no significant direct association with burnout; instead, its negative relationship with burnout was fully accounted for by lower time poverty and higher inclusive teaching efficacy. Furthermore, heterogeneous indirect pathways emerged across the burnout core dimensions: the indirect link to emotional exhaustion operated exclusively through perceived time poverty, whereas depersonalization and personal accomplishment were associated with both time poverty and teaching efficacy via independent and serial indirect paths. Although this cross-sectional design precludes inferring strict temporal sequences among the variables, these findings indicate that mere technical proficiency is insufficient to sustain teachers’ professional well-being. To effectively alleviate burnout among inclusive educators, digital literacy development must translate into tangible time savings and rebuild their confidence in inclusive teaching practices, thereby sustaining a healthy and effective inclusive teaching workforce.