Teacher Wellbeing: A review of the literature

Abstract

It is well acknowledged that teachers are the most important in-school factor contributing to student success, satisfaction and achievement, and that teacher wellbeing is deeply connected to the quality of their work (CESE, 2014). Teacher wellbeing is therefore of critical importance for the future of education. In recognition of the importance of teacher wellbeing and its impact on teachers’ work, the AISNSW Education Research Council has commissioned a multiphase research project into this area, to be conducted with teachers from the independent schools sector in NSW. The first phase of this study is the current literature review, which aims to: • understand how teacher wellbeing has been defined • identify factors that impact on teacher wellbeing • identify initiatives that enable teacher wellbeing. A range of quantitative and qualitative studies primarily focusing on teacher wellbeing and wellness were purposively selected for the review. Studies of student wellbeing unrelated to teacher wellbeing were excluded, as were those which focused on resilience or burnout without reference to wellbeing. The underlying rationale for this was to focus on enabling aspects of teacher wellbeing. A total of 191 Australian and international studies, covering the period from 2001-2017 were identified and analysed, with a deliberate focus on the last 5 – 10 years