Abstract

Against the background of high-quality development in basic education and the continuous deepening of reforms in arts education, the importance of innovative teaching behavior among primary school dance teachers has become increasingly prominent. However, in practical contexts, teachers’ innovative practices remain constrained by both organizational environments and individual psychological factors, particularly insufficient organizational support and inadequate mechanisms for motivation stimulation. Based on Self-Determination Theory and Psychological Safety Theory, this study targeted primary school dance teachers in Shijiazhuang, Hebei Province, China, and aimed to examine the effects of organizational psychological safety and teaching motivation on innovative teaching behavior, as well as their underlying mechanisms. Specifically, the research objectives were to explore the correlations among the three variables, analyze the predictive role of teaching motivation in innovative teaching behavior, and test the mediating effect of organizational psychological safety. A quantitative questionnaire survey was employed, and 237 valid samples were collected through stratified sampling. The instruments included scales measuring teaching motivation, organizational psychological safety, and innovative teaching behavior, encompassing dimensions such as guidance of learning methods, motivation stimulation, evaluation of perspectives, encouragement of flexibility, classroom management, instructional strategies, and student engagement, as well as intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation analysis, regression analysis, and bootstrap mediation testing. The findings indicated that teaching motivation, organizational psychological safety, and innovative teaching behavior among primary school dance teachers were all significantly and positively correlated. Both teaching motivation and organizational psychological safety significantly and positively predicted innovative teaching behavior, and organizational psychological safety partially mediated the relationship between teaching motivation and innovative teaching behavior. This study deepens the understanding of the formation mechanism of innovative teaching behavior by integrating individual psychological and organizational contextual perspectives, and provides theoretical and practical implications for optimizing school management environments and enhancing teachers’ innovative potential. Future studies may further validate this model across different regions and disciplines and adopt longitudinal and multilevel research designs to explore the dynamic development and cross-context applicability of innovative teaching behavior.