Factors central to mathematics teacher wellbeing: What matters most to mathematics teachers in England and Australia

Source abstract

Abstract Teacher wellbeing remains a critical concern worldwide, with poor wellbeing increasingly recognised as a driver of teacher attrition and workforce instability. Despite substantial research on teacher wellbeing, existing wellbeing frameworks rarely attend to what teachers of mathematics consider most central to their wellbeing. This exploratory study reports findings from a two-phase prototype analysis conducted with primary and secondary mathematics teachers in England ( n = 61) and Australia ( n = 76). Findings reveal that teachers from both countries consider a manageable workload the most important, followed by positive professional relationships, pedagogical autonomy, feeling valued, and mathematics-specific confidence and knowledge. Significant country differences show greater centrality of collaborative professional practice among English teachers. Primary-secondary sector comparisons, controlling for country, show greater centrality of a uniform approach to teaching mathematics among English primary teachers.