When confidence meets constraint: teacher agency and K-12 curriculum reform implementation in Vietnam's global South context

Purpose This study aims to the paradoxical relationship between teacher confidence and curriculum reform implementation in Vietnam's General Education Curriculum 2018 (GEC 2018) reform. It examines how systemic constraints shape behavioural responses. Design/methodology/approach A mixed-methods design was employed with 1,077 secondary teachers from 6 northern Vietnamese provinces. Quantitative data were analysed using nested theory of planned behaviour (TPB) models via structural equation modelling. Qualitative data were analysed using thematic analysis and integrated via a joint display matrix to interpret patterns through perezhivanie. Findings Two paradoxes emerged. The “confidence-constraint paradox” (ß = −0.105, p < 0.01) reveals confident teachers withdraw implementation intentions when facing low systemic support (learnt helplessness). The “anxious-compelled paradox” (ß = 0.022, ns) shows that less confident teachers engage in performative compliance driven by normative pressure (impression management). Research limitations/implications The cross-sectional design limits causal inference. However, high behaviour variance (67.2%) reflects performative compliance in accountability contexts, not common method bias. Longitudinal research can clarify temporal dynamics. Practical implications Reform success requires shifting focus from teacher retraining to providing systemic support, fostering psychological safety to transform “threat” appraisals into “challenge” appraisals. The findings offer actionable insights for education policymakers in Global South contexts. Originality/value By integrating rational-choice (TPB) and appraisal-coping (cognitive appraisal theory) models through the perezhivanie concept, this study provides a novel psychological framework that reconceptualises the “implementation journey” as an internal, emotional-cognitive process, offering critical insights into the mechanisms that widen the policy-practice gap in Confucian-heritage societies.