Search Results (68)

This study applies Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) theory to music student psychology, with particular attention to the differentiated impacts of artificial intelligence across music student subgroups. Background: Music education requires intensive cognitive, motor, emotional, and social training. Methods: Employing a narrative literature review and conceptual framework approach, this paper draws on JD-R theory, technostress research, and cross-cultural scholarship to identify demands and resources in music education and examine their relationships with burnout and engagement. Results: Seven demands: technical, physical, temporal, performance, social–emotional, technostress, cultural identity. Resources: teacher support, peer collaboration, instruments, AI tools, curricula, and intrinsic motivation. Critically, AI-related demands and resources differ substantially across subgroups: composers face direct demand shocks (job displacement) and resource opportunities (creative augmentation) that vary by career stage, while performers experience more indirect impacts through recording market disruption and emerging self-media opportunities. Singers face a unique paradox whereby AI voice cloning creates short-term recording opportunities while potentially enabling long-term vocal replacement. Cultural identity demands arise from heritage-Western tensions in East Asia. Conclusions: This JD-R framework provides a nuanced lens for understanding music students’ well-being that accounts for subgroup-specific vulnerabilities and opportunities. Full article

A participatory school climate refers to the involvement of school administrators, teachers, and other school members in decision-making processes, their sharing of responsibility, and their collaborative work for school improvement. Since this climate can be related to individual, organizational, and contextual factors such as leadership, job satisfaction, diversity beliefs, workload, well-being, and national context, identifying the key variables that support a participatory school environment is important. This study used TALIS 2024 school administrator data to identify the main predictors of participatory school climate and examined the mediating role of school administrator job satisfaction in the relationship between school administrator leadership, used here in line with school principal leadership, and participatory school climate. The research is based on a two-stage analytical framework. In the first stage, explanatory machine learning analysis was conducted by comparing Elastic Net, Random Forest, and XGBoost models; the relative significance levels of the variables were evaluated using permutation importance and SHAP methods. In the second stage, mediation analysis was performed using multi-level linear mixed models, considering clustering at the national level; the indirect association was evaluated using bootstrap confidence intervals. The analyses were conducted using data from 16,335 school administrators. The findings showed that the highest prediction performance was produced by the XGBoost model and that model performance improved with the inclusion of the country variable. Explainability analyses indicated that school administrator leadership was the strongest predictor of participatory school climate, followed by job satisfaction and diversity beliefs. Multilevel models suggested that the association between school administrator leadership and participatory school climate was consistent, with an indirect pathway through school administrator job satisfaction; bootstrap findings also supported the statistical stability of this indirect association. These findings suggest that a participatory school climate is associated not only with individual perceptions but also with multifaceted conditions such as leadership, job satisfaction, inclusivity, and country context. By combining explanatory machine learning with multilevel statistical modeling, this study identifies variables associated with participatory school climate and examines an indirect association among leadership, job satisfaction, and participatory climate. Because TALIS survey weights and the full complex sampling design were not incorporated, the findings should be interpreted as associations observed in the pooled analytical sample rather than as population-representative estimates for participating education systems. Full article

This study examines the increasing concern regarding teacher job satisfaction, which has a direct impact on retention, instructional quality, and student outcomes. Traditionally, teacher satisfaction has been evaluated through questionnaires, which present limitations in terms of data efficiency and analyses. In this study, machine learning techniques were applied to data from the PISA 2022 teacher questionnaire in Morocco (N = 2998 lower-secondary teachers). Two multiclass classification targets were defined: overall job satisfaction (SATJOB_class) and satisfaction with the teaching profession (SATTEACH_class), each categorised into three balanced classes: low (<−0.5), medium (−0.5 to 0.5), and high (>0.5) classes. The methodology comprised four key stages. Initially, comprehensive pre-processing was conducted to address missing values, retaining features with fewer than 300 missing entries and applying mode imputation. Subsequently, nine classifiers, including logistic regression, K-nearest neighbours, multinomial naïve Bayes, support vector machine, decision tree, random forest, XGBoost, AdaBoost, and a feed-forward Artificial Neural Network, were evaluated using identical train/test splits and hyperparameter tuning. Third, the model performance was assessed using accuracy, precision, recall, and F1-score. Finally, the feature importance was derived from tree-based and permutation methods. The results indicated that XGBoost outperformed the other models for SATJOB_class with an accuracy (0.61), precision (0.62), recall (0.61), and F1-score (0.61), followed by Random Forest (accuracy = 0.59), Logistic Regression (accuracy = 0.59), and AdaBoost (accuracy = 0.59). For SATTEACH_class, Random Forest led with accuracy (0.59), followed closely by XGBoost (0.58), ANN (0.57), and AdaBoost (0.56). Key predictors of teacher job satisfaction included workload-related variables and school-environment factors, which consistently emerged as the most important features across the best-performing models. The methodology and open-source pipeline provide a reproducible framework for evidence-based interventions to improve teacher retention and instructional quality, offering valuable insights for policymakers and educational administrators. Full article

Teacher well-being and performance represent critical challenges for educational systems worldwide. While organizational compassion has been identified as a protective resource, it remains unclear for whom compassion is most beneficial. Drawing on Job Demands–Resources (JD-R) theory and Conservation of Resources (COR) theory, we examined whether teachers’ self-efficacy moderates the relationship between workplace compassion and performance perceptions, testing differential patterns for individual versus organizational performance evaluations. Italian public-school teachers (N = 218; 82% female; M teaching experience = 11.6 years) completed an online survey measuring compassion at work, self-efficacy, and perceptions of individual and organizational performance. We employed a two-stage approach, first validating the measurement model through Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA), then testing moderation hypotheses using path analysis with mean-centered variables. Bootstrap confidence intervals (5000 iterations) verified the reliability of interaction effects. Self-efficacy significantly moderated the effect of compassion on individual performance perceptions (β = −0.006, p = 0.006; bootstrap 95% CI: [−0.010, −0.002]), revealing a compensatory pattern. Teachers with lower self-efficacy benefited substantially from workplace compassion (simple slope β = 0.31, p < 0.001), whereas teachers with high self-efficacy showed no significant benefit (β = 0.06, ns). The hypothesized synergistic effect on organizational performance perceptions was not supported (β = 0.006, p = 0.027; bootstrap CI included zero). Organizational compassion functions as a compensatory resource, most powerfully supporting teachers who lack personal resources. This challenges assumptions that organizational interventions uniformly benefit all employees and suggests that compassion-based interventions should be strategically targeted toward teachers experiencing lower self-efficacy. The study advances theoretical understanding of resource substitution mechanisms and provides actionable guidance for optimizing limited organizational resources in educational settings. Full article

Background: Sustainability-oriented higher education research has increasingly foregrounded staff wellbeing, motivational practice, and instructional continuity as central to long-term educational effectiveness. However, empirical evidence remains limited for university English language teaching (ELT) instructors operating within fragile, post-conflict, and regionally uneven systems such as Libya. In particular, little is known about whether job satisfaction is translated into motivational teaching behaviour through teacher self-efficacy, or how such relationships vary across demographic and institutional contexts. Addressing this gap is critical for understanding human-capital sustainability in higher education systems facing structural instability. Methods: A quantitative cross-sectional online survey was conducted using Google Forms and regionally stratified convenience sampling across Libya’s Western, Eastern, Central, and Southern regions. The final sample comprised 385 eligible university ELT instructors, including both full-time and part-time staff. Data were collected using three validated instruments: an adapted Teacher Job Satisfaction Questionnaire (21 items), a teacher self-efficacy scale (12 items), and a motivational teaching strategies scale (18 items). All measures demonstrated satisfactory internal consistency. Data analysis was performed using IBM SPSS Statistics v29, applying descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation analysis, regression-based mediation analysis with bootstrapping, and group comparisons using independent-samples t-tests and one-way ANOVA. Results: The sample included 57.14% male and 42.86% female instructors, with 62.86% employed full-time and the majority reporting 6–10 years of teaching experience (51.95%). Mean scores indicated moderate levels of job satisfaction (M = 3.32, SD = 0.94) and teacher self-efficacy (M = 3.03, SD = 0.68), alongside high levels of motivational teaching strategies (M = 4.15, SD = 0.87). Job satisfaction was positively associated with motivational teaching strategies (r = 0.61, p < 0.001) and teacher self-efficacy (r = 0.49, p < 0.001), while teacher self-efficacy was also positively related to motivational strategies (r = 0.53, p < 0.001). Mediation analysis revealed a significant partial mediating effect of teacher self-efficacy (indirect effect = 0.19, 95% CI [0.12, 0.28]). Significant differences were observed across demographic variables (age, gender, teaching experience) and institutional characteristics (employment status and university region). Conclusions: The findings indicate that sustainable teaching practice in Libyan higher education has been jointly shaped by organisational satisfaction and teachers’ capability beliefs. These results underscore the importance of context-sensitive institutional policies that support both structural working conditions and psychological resources. Future research could extend this evidence through longitudinal and mixed-methods designs to deepen understanding of sustainability-oriented teaching dynamics in fragile higher education systems. Full article

The teaching profession plays a central role in shaping educational quality and student development, yet it is increasingly characterized by high job demands and increasing pressures. Against this backdrop, this study examines how individual proactive behaviors (i.e., structural and social job crafting) interact with relational resources (i.e., LMX), to foster teachers’ emotional well-being and professional functioning, drawing on the Job Demands–Resources (JD-R) model and LMX theory. Using cross-sectional survey data from 374 Flemish public secondary school teachers, we investigated the relationships between job crafting, well-being, and performance outcomes, as well as the mediating role of LMX. The results indicate that both forms of job crafting are significantly associated with lower emotional exhaustion and higher teacher enthusiasm and creative performance. Moreover, LMX emerged as a key, yet underexplored, mediating mechanism linking job crafting to teacher well-being and enthusiasm. These findings advance theoretical understanding of how proactive work behaviors translate into positive outcomes in educational contexts and highlight the importance of high-quality leader–teacher relationships. From a practical perspective, the results suggest that encouraging teachers’ job crafting behaviors alongside supportive school leadership may be crucial for fostering sustainable well-being and performance in education. Full article

Teachers’ well-being continues to attract global attention due to rising workload demands and emotional exhaustion in educational settings. In secondary education, stress and burnout remain critical issues that impact both teaching quality and teacher retention. This study explored gender differences in how workload demands and motivation influence teachers’ stress and burnout, using a multigroup structural equation modelling (SEM) approach based on the Job Demands–Resources (JD–R) model, Self-Determination Theory (SDT), and the Transactional Model of Stress and Coping. Data were collected from 353 Nigerian secondary school science, mathematics, and technology teachers using validated questionnaires measuring workload demands, motivation, attitudes toward work, stress, and burnout. Results indicated that workload demands significantly predict stress and burnout across genders, with a stronger relationship among female teachers. Motivation positively affected attitudes towards work but showed mixed effects on stress and burnout depending on gender. Additionally, attitude towards work predicts stress and burnout, while stress also strongly predict burnout in both groups. These findings suggest that burnout is driven by both demands and motivation, with gender moderating teachers’ responses to occupational pressures. The study concludes that interventions aimed at improving teacher well-being must be gender-sensitive, focusing on reducing excessive workload, fostering intrinsic motivation, and strengthening professional support networks. These insights offer valuable guidance for policymakers and educational administrators seeking to enhance teacher resilience and performance through targeted professional development initiatives. Full article

Background: Neck and shoulder pain are prevalent occupational health issues among school teachers globally, impacting work performance and quality of life. This study aimed to assess the prevalence and factors associated with neck and shoulder pain among school teachers in Oman. Methods: A cross-sectional study using chi-square and logistic regression analyses was conducted in March–April 2025 among 419 full-time school teachers in three Omani governorates. A structured questionnaire was used to collect data on socio-demographic, behavioral, physical, psychosocial, and health-related factors. Results: A high prevalence of neck and shoulder pain among participants was observed, with 98.3% reporting pain in the past 12 months. Chronic pain lasting over a year was reported by 59.7%, with 37.0% experiencing severe pain. Psychological job demands were high, with 62.8% reporting high levels of stress. Conclusions: The study did not find significant associations with physical risk factors, but highlighted the importance of broader determinants such as low physical activity, obesity, and lack of supervisory support in relation to chronic neck and shoulder pain among teachers. Full article

Teaching has always been recognized as one of the professions with the highest risk of burnout, thus highlighting the need to take into account how organizations could promote a “healthier” work life. Accordingly, literature has gone beyond the conceptualization of well-being as merely the “absence of illness” to concluding that it must be regarded as a state of complete health. The current study adopts this theoretical approach to address the limited literature on factors affecting the well-being of Italian primary school teachers. Specifically, responses to a self-report questionnaire completed by 142 Italian primary school teachers showed that work self-efficacy was positively associated with job satisfaction, which in turn was positively related to well-being. Consequently, job satisfaction fully mediated the relationship between self-efficacy and well-being. Furthermore, both work overload and work autonomy were found to be negatively associated with teacher well-being. These findings can inform the design of targeted interventions aimed at enhancing the performance and psychological health of primary school teachers by managing demands and fostering effective resources. Full article

Individual beliefs are a critical factor in understanding human action and behavior. Certain beliefs, such as irrational beliefs and burnout, influence all forms of learning and social interaction within the school environment, primarily limiting both individual and collective development. The former are associated with the inherent human tendency to adhere to habits and behaviors not strictly dictated by rationality, often stemming from irrational thoughts held by the individual. The latter, examined within the framework of the Job Demands–Resources Theory, pertain to occupational characteristics that differentially affect employees’ well-being, job demands, and available resources. The present study aims to investigate the role of these variables in relation to teachers’ Innovative Work Behavior, a recurring, multi-stage process oriented toward the implementation of new ideas within the school context. The sample consisted of 337 preschool educators who completed self-report questionnaires. Multiple linear regression analysis indicated that both irrational beliefs (positively) and the dimension of work disengagement (negatively) significantly influenced innovative work behavior, underscoring the distinct contributions of personal belief systems and burnout dimensions. Furthermore, a hierarchical cluster analysis revealed both heterogeneity among educators and common, distinct response patterns. The identification of five different clusters suggests that the examined characteristics and the underlying beliefs represent individual traits that change dynamically, leaving open the possibility of nonlinear relationships present in the workplace. Five profiles were identified, namely Disengaged-Low Innovators, Resilient-Balanced Innovators, Adaptive Innovators, Strained but Innovative Innovators, and Belief-Driven Innovators, which highlight the complex ways in which disengagement, exhaustion, and irrational beliefs combine to shape innovative work behavior. The findings are interpretable within the framework of contemporary theories in organizational psychology and management and can be utilized by educational principals to enhance school climate and teacher performance. Full article

Job satisfaction is widely acknowledged as a complex, multidimensional construct that significantly influences both employee well-being and organizational performance. Within the field of education, empirical research specifically focusing on preschool teachers’ job satisfaction remains scarce. Progress in this area is related to the availability of psychometrically robust measurement instruments. This study examined job satisfaction among Greek preschool teachers using a revised version of the Teachers’ Satisfaction Inventory (TSI), integrating theoretical frameworks emphasizing job satisfaction’s multidimensional nature and its critical role in organizational effectiveness. The present study aimed to (1) validate the TSI’s psychometric properties for preschool teachers and (2) assess satisfaction levels by incorporating two new dimensions: salary and perceived prestige. An extended version of the 30-item TSI, measuring seven dimensions, was administered to 224 Greek preschool teachers. Psychometric properties were assessed using confirmatory factor analysis (χ² = 743.33, df = 384, CFI = 0.992, RMSEA = 0.067, SRMR = 0.078), reliability (Cronbach’s α = 0.77 to 0.94) and convergent analyses (AVE = 0.661 to 0.854). Findings indicated that the revised TSI is a valid and reliable instrument with a strong seven-factor structure (factors’ correlation = 0.143 to 0.787). Results revealed high satisfaction with colleagues and students, but significant dissatisfaction with salary and prestige. The findings underscore the need for policymakers to address financial compensation and societal recognition to enhance retention and well-being in preschool education. This study contributes a validated tool for assessing preschool teachers’ job satisfaction while highlighting context-specific challenges in Greece. Full article

This study investigates the creators, effects, and inhibitors of technostress among STEM teachers, addressing a critical yet underexplored issue in the digitalization of education. Grounded in the technostress model and the job demands–resources (JD-R) model, the study examines the relationships among technostress creators, burnout, organizational effects (job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and work performance), and technostress inhibitors. A cross-sectional survey was conducted with 378 STEM teachers from Zhejiang Province, China. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was employed to test the hypothesized paths. The results revealed that technostress creators significantly increased teacher burnout and negatively affected organizational commitment and work performance. Burnout mediated the impact of technostress creators on job satisfaction and organizational commitment. Technostress inhibitors were found to alleviate burnout, mitigate technostress creators, and enhance STEM teachers’ commitment. These findings validate the applicability of the technostress model in the context of K–12 STEM education in China and highlight the importance of organizational mechanisms for supporting teacher well-being and performance. The study contributes to both theory and practice by proposing an integrative model of technostress and offering actionable recommendations for school leadership to effectively manage technostress. Full article

All individuals hold beliefs about their ability to successfully perform specific tasks. These beliefs, known as self-efficacy, play a key role in guiding and motivating human behavior. In education, both teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs and the collective efficacy shared by teachers within a school have been linked to improved performance, well-being, and job satisfaction among students and educators. While these constructs have been widely studied in various countries and contexts, little is known about them in Mexico, the country with the largest Spanish-speaking population worldwide. This study is the first to examine the relationship between teacher self-efficacy (TSE), collective efficacy, and other teacher- and school-level variables in Mexico. Given the absence of psychometrically robust instruments to assess collective efficacy among Spanish-speaking teachers, the Collective Teacher Beliefs Scale (CTBS) was first adapted into Spanish, and its psychometric properties were evaluated. Subsequently, multilevel analyses incorporating teacher- and school-level factors revealed that professional development on multicultural communication, classroom autonomy, and collaboration, at the teacher level, and collective efficacy and stakeholder participation, at the school level, were significant predictors of TSE. Finally, implications for future practice and policy are discussed. Full article

With the rapid expansion of higher education in China, university teachers are facing increasing workloads and mounting performance pressures, posing significant threats to their occupational health. Consequently, how to enhance job performance while safeguarding faculty well-being has become a critical issue for higher education administrators. This study aims to explore the role of health-promoting leadership (HPL) in addressing the dual challenge of enhancing university teachers’ job performance while maintaining their occupational health. Drawing on the Conservation of Resources (COR) theory, this study conceptualizes job burnout as both a core indicator of occupational health and a mediating variable, as well as proposing a dual-path model to examine the direct and indirect effects of HPL on teachers’ job performance. A survey of 556 university teachers in Jiangxi Province, China, was conducted; the data were analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics version 22.0 and AMOS version 26.0 (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY, USA). The findings suggest that HPL is positively associated with job performance, both directly and indirectly through reduced burnout, supporting a dual-pathway mechanism consistent with COR theory. These results contribute to a better understanding of the potential role of HPL in balancing teacher well-being and performance in the context of Chinese higher education. This study also extends the cross-cultural application of COR theory and provides theoretical and practical insights into how HPL may help alleviate teacher burnout and support the development of health-promoting universities. Full article

Technological advancement has radically transformed higher education, requiring faculty members to continually adapt to new tools and teaching methods. In this context, the phenomenon of fear of missing out (FoMO) has gained relevance, often manifesting through a range of negative emotional states, including technostress—stress associated with the use of technology. Objectives: This study aimed to map the available scientific evidence on technostress among nursing faculty in higher education, through a scoping review conducted according to the methodology proposed by the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI). Methods: The literature search was performed across eight databases, including Medline (via PubMed), CINAHL Complete, Scopus, and the Teacher Reference Center. Results: Of the 266 studies identified, only 3 met the inclusion criteria. Conclusions: Findings reveal varying levels of technostress among nursing educators, with higher levels observed among older faculty members, frequently associated with limited technical and administrative support. Although the direct impact on job satisfaction was not significant, the anxiety induced by intensive technology use and the perceived necessity for constant professional updating—often driven by FoMO—was shown to affect daily academic life, highlighting the need for effective coping strategies. Understanding technostress within the context of nursing education is essential for addressing the challenges of pedagogical modernization. This review supports the need for future institutional interventions aimed at preventing technostress and fostering a more balanced, reflective, and sustainable relationship with technology in academic settings. Full article