TEACHERS' DIGITAL COMPETENCE ENHANCING HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS' SUCCESS: THE MEDIATING ROLE OF PEDAGOGICAL INNOVATION AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN TEACHING

The digital revolution is deeply influenced and constantly changing the way of learning and working processes. Given that modern technologies offer a huge amount of information, resources, and knowledge available to everyone through the internet, teachers must possess a high level of digital skills and competencies to adequately transfer knowledge and train the digital natives' generation of students. Additionally, in order to prepare students for further education or the job market in the digital age, educational institutions must respond to the challenges posed by digitized knowledge societies by providing digital literacy training in their curricula. So, the study aims to analyse the digital literacy of teachers in secondary schools, and its impact on pedagogical innovation, as well as teacher entrepreneurial behaviour in teaching. Considering the importance of entrepreneurship and the innovation of youth for the development of society in general, this topic is of particular relevance to the lagging behind countries. Therefore, the research was conducted in a transition country in southeast Europe. Besides, the moderating influence of teachers' psychological characteristics was accounted for, as was the general normative profile of society. Finally, the impact of pedagogical innovation and entrepreneurial behaviour in teaching on students' perceived success has been analysed. Secondary schools of all majors are covered. The theoretical contribution of the study is in the model proposal describing the underlying mechanism of teacher-related determinants of high school students' success. Practical implications relate to guidance for high school management and government on how to encourage innovation and entrepreneurship in the teaching process.