Job Boredom and Its Impact on Teacher Creativity and Teaching: Pedagogical Knowledge Absorptive Capacity and Leader-Member Exchange Make a Difference

In today's dynamic and increasingly uncertain educational environments, teachers are expected to constantly acquire new knowledge and demonstrate creativity. Job boredom, as an emotion, is regarded as a key driver of individuals' knowledge-seeking behavior and creativity. Dyadic leader-member exchange relationships (LMX) have been identified as a critical factor in the emotion regulation of teachers. Using data from 1,406 Nigerian teachers, this study investigates the impact of job boredom on teacher creativity and teaching practices, with a particular focus on the mediating and moderating roles of LMX and pedagogical knowledge absorptive capacity (ACAP) in this relationship. The findings indicate a correlation between teacher job boredom and increased activities aimed at recognizing, assimilating, transforming, and exploiting new pedagogical knowledge, as well as a greater variation in teaching practices. ACAP, in turn, is associated with increasd creativity in the workplace, which itself is linked to a greater variety of teaching practices. LMX functions as a climate variable that shapes teachers' emotions, experiences, and behaviors at school.