Teacher Well-Being: Investigating Barriers and Facilitators Using the Job Demands-Resources Framework

Abstract

This dissertation investigates the resource needs, challenges, and strengths of teachers that influence teacher well-being in two studies. While many studies have focused on teacher stress and burnout, fewer studies utilize a strengths approach to explore teacher well-being. Teachers experience high stress and even burnout due to the demanding nature of their job; they face stressors on the interpersonal, organizational, and institutional levels. Despite these challenges, most teachers remain committed to the profession, yet there is a lack of studies that focus on how teachers thrive and the positive experience they have at school. In this dissertation, I use the Job-Demands Resources model as a theoretical framework. I use qualitative and quantitative methods across two studies to examine what resources teachers need to thrive and how these resources relate to teacher well-being and differ. In the first study, I explore teacher resource needs by analyzing data from a hashtag campaign that teachers responded to on Twitter. In the second study, I examine how resources relate to teacher well-being using a survey methodology. The findings offer a more in-depth understanding of teacher resource needs and well-being, which have practical implications for teacher training, professional development programs, and policies for effective ways to mitigate teacher attrition, stress, and burnout and promote teacher resilience and overall well-being. Additionally, theoretical implications may impact additions to the Job-Demands Resource theory and the study of teacher well-being.