Leveraging Evidence on Relations Between Teacher Well-being and Student Well-being and Learning: A Scoping Review

Abstract

A scoping review of empirical studies from 2000 to 2023 was conducted to explore the relations between teacher well-being and student well-being and learning. The search process was guided by a broad definition of well-being and learning, yielding 7,629 unique publications. Sixty-seven studies met the inclusion criteria. Findings indicated an increase in studies published since 2000, with a peak in 2020 and 2021. The greatest number of studies were conducted in the United States (34%) and with elementary school students (37%). To capture teacher well-being, most studies used a conceptualization of occupational stress and burnout (33%), while psychological distress was most common for student well-being (48%). Overall, teacher well-being was positively associated with both student well-being (93% of studies) and learning (84%). Studies used diverse research designs—cross-sectional designs were most common (54%), followed by qualitative (22%) and longitudinal approaches (22%). Noticeably absent were any experimental studies examining a causal link between teacher well-being and student well-being and learning, highlighting the need for more research.