Teachers’ Personal Resources: What Do We Know and Where Do We Go? A Scoping Review Through the Lens of Job Demands-Resources Theory

Abstract

Teacher attrition and continue to be the source of considerable concern among educators and school systems alike. Thus, supporting teachers to remain in the profession is of tremendous importance. Against the backdrop of this work, personal resources – as a component of the broader Job Demands-Resources framework– have emerged as potentially salient determinants of teachers’ individual and work-related wellbeing outcomes. Despite the growth in research attending to personal resources, particularly in teaching populations, there is an absence of research that systematically examines the personal resources which may be associated with teachers’ wellbeing. Accordingly, the aim of the present research was to conduct a scoping review of the personal resources which have been associated with teachers’ wellbeing-related outcomes to identify gaps in the present literature which may provide direction for future research. The search identified 17 studies of relevance. In total, 11 personal resources were examined in relation to 22 different outcomes. Analyses highlighted the comparative popularity of self-efficacy as a personal resource and the distinction between resources of an affective-cognitive and behavioral-practical nature. The results of the review highlighted the need for further clarity in terms of the classification of personal resources, the need to conduct research among non-western populations and among teachers at different school levels, and the need for a broader range of methodologies to further nuance understandings. Taken together, the results of this review have implications for future research examining teachers’ personal resources and JD-R theory more broadly, as well as interventions which may cultivate such resources.