Digitalization in schools, through information and communications technologies (ICTs), changes the teaching and learning processes (Scheiter, 2021), offering teachers opportunities for professional growth (Passey, 2021). However, ICTs have also been shown to increase workload, accelerate the pace of work, and relate to experiences of burnout (Califf & Brooks, 2020; Mauno et al., 2019; Scheiter, 2021). This adds to the already elevated pressure on teachers' mental health (Richards et al., 2018; Sandmeier et al., 2022).

Our forthcoming study, examines how digitalization in schools influences teachers’ well-being. Through semi-structured interviews with secondary school teachers from the German-, French-, and Italian-speaking regions of Switzerland we examine what factors constitute job demands related to the digitalization in schools and which individual and organizational factors serve as resources and boost teacher’s resilience. In addition, quantitative data regarding specific ICT resources and stressors will inform the qualitative data.

We integrate theoretical perspectives from the Job Demands–Resources Theory (Bakker & Demerouti, 2014), the Transactional Model of Stress (Lazarus & Folkman, 1984), the TPACK framework (Mishra & Koehler, 2006), and the AWaRE model (Hascher et al., 2021). We build upon our findings from the validation of the ICT Resources & Stressors Scale (Cianci et al., 2024), where we identified several resources and demands related to ICT use.

Saturation will define the final sample size, which we estimate to be around approximately 30 participants. Interview data will be analyzed through qualitative content analysis (Döring, 2023), applying case-wise coding and cross-case comparison to identify key patterns in teachers’ experiences.

At the symposium we will present preliminary results, highlighting how teachers perceive and manage demands from the digital transformation in schools. The findings from our study will provide an empirical foundation for developing a coaching and training intervention aimed at enhancing teachers’ ICT competences and integrating digitalization-related stress management into existing occupational health promotion structures in schools.

The well-being and collective efficacy of school teams have become central topics in educational research and policy. Teacher well-being is crucial for professional sustainability and teaching quality (e.g., Parker et al., 2012; Skaalvik & Skaalvik, 2018). Teachers with higher well-being show fewer absences, lower burnout risk, and greater retention, whereas low well-being undermines instructional quality and student outcomes.

Collective teacher efficacy, i.e. teachers’ shared belief in their collective ability to positively influence students (Bandura, 1997), has emerged as another key resource for thriving and healthy school environments (Hattie, 2023). A recent systematic review and meta-analysis (Sahli Lozano et al., 2025) examined outcomes along the Job Demands–Resources (JD-R) model (Demerouti et al., 2001) and showed that, among compulsory schoolteachers, collective teacher efficacy was significantly related to enhanced positive job- and health-related outcomes and to reduced negative ones. For instance, collective teacher efficacy was positively associated with teacher well-being, with small to medium effect sizes (Sahli Lozano et al., 2025). In this line, collective teacher efficacy can be understood as a psychosocial resource that supports teacher well-being directly and, through its influence on collaborative school climates, may also indirectly promote student well-being.

However, as no longitudinal studies have examined these relationships, their causal direction remains unclear, although collective teacher efficacy is often viewed as a driver (Hoogsteen, 2020). It therefore remains uncertain whether collective teacher efficacy leads to well-being or vice versa, or how changes in collective teacher efficacy relate to changes in well-being.

AIM: The aim of this study is to examine the reciprocal influences between changes in collective teacher efficacy and teacher well-being over time.

METHOD: The analyses will draw on data from the ongoing longitudinal study “Stress and Well-Being of School Teams in the Context of Inclusive Education” (SWING), which includes a baseline assessment in spring 2025 and a one-year follow-up in spring 2026. The study is representative of school teams from primary schools in the German-speaking regions of Switzerland. At baseline, 3,730 teachers and special education teachers across 205 school teams participated and will be invited again for the follow-up assessment. Collective teacher efficacy is assessed using a self-developed, four-item instrument adapted to the Swiss context and grounded in established instruments (Caprara et al., 2003; Goddard et al., 2004; Schwarzer & Schmitz, 1999; Skaalvik & Skaalvik, 2007, 2018; Tschannen-Moran & Barr, 2004). Teacher well-being is measured using the World Health Organization–Five Well-Being Index (WHO-5; World Health Organization, 2024). Reciprocal longitudinal relationships between changes in collective teacher efficacy and teacher well-being will be analysed using latent change score models.

RESULTS: At baseline, collective teacher efficacy and well-being were positively correlated at both the individual level (r = .19, p < .001) and the aggregated team level (r = .38, p < .001).

DISCUSSION: The study is expected to provide the first longitudinal evidence on how collective teacher efficacy and teacher well-being influence one another over time, advancing both JD-R theory for team-level resources and practical insights for supporting healthy and effective school environments.

La relation enseignant-élèves constitue un levier robuste du développement scolaire, motivationnel et socio-émotionnel des élèves (Emslander et al., 2025; Roorda et al., 2011). Parmi les dimensions qui structurent cette relation, l’empathie de l’enseignant occupe une place centrale, en soutenant à la fois le climat relationnel, la sécurité émotionnelle perçue et l’engagement des élèves dans les apprentissages (Cornelius-White, 2007; Meyers et al., 2019). Pourtant, malgré l’intérêt croissant que lui porte la recherche internationale, la contribution de différentes facettes de l’empathie (p.ex., cognitive, affective, interactionnelle) au fonctionnement motivationnel des élèves demeure encore insuffisamment documentée, en particulier dans une perspective comparative entre disciplines scolaires. Les travaux récents soulignent également que l’empathie ne peut être envisagée indépendamment des compétences socio-émotionnelles plus larges des enseignants, notamment la sensibilité, la régulation émotionnelle et les habiletés relationnelles (De Dieu Gweth Bi Bisso et al., 2025; Mikolajczak et al., 2020).

Dans ce contexte, la présente étude vise à examiner le rôle de l’empathie perçue des enseignants dans la prédiction de l’intérêt académique et de la performance scolaire des élèves dans deux disciplines contrastées : le français (L1), mobilisant fortement les dimensions expressives et relationnelles, et les mathématiques, discipline traditionnellement perçue comme plus technique et moins expressive. En s'inscrivant dans le modèle intégratif de l’empathie enseignante proposé par Gweth Bi Bisso et al. (2025), nous postulons que l’empathie constitue un déterminant motivationnel majeur, mais dont l’effet pourrait varier en fonction du contexte disciplinaire.

L’étude repose sur un échantillon de 197 étudiants du secondaire 2 issus de Suisse romande, qui ont évalué différentes facettes de l’empathie perçue de leurs enseignants de français (L1) et de mathématiques. L’empathie perçue a été mesurée par le Teacher Empathy Questionnaire (TEQ ; Cai et al., 2023), la Teacher Sensitivity Scale (TSE ; Aldrup et al., 2020) et deux sous-échelles (soutien et empathie) du Profile of Trainees/Teachers Scale (PIE ; Genoud, 2003). L’intérêt académique pour le français et pour les mathématiques a été évalué avec l’échelle multidimensionnelle d’intérêt académique (EMIA; Fenouillet et al., 2017), et les performances scolaires à l’aide des notes obtenues en français et en mathématiques.

Les analyses préliminaires montrent qu’une meilleure qualité de la relation enseignant-élèves – qu’elle soit évaluée par l’empathie perçue, la sensibilité ou le soutien – est significativement associée à un plus grand intérêt académique (corrélations modérées) ainsi qu’à de meilleurs résultats scolaires (corrélations faibles à modérées).

Les premiers modèles d’équations structurelles précisent ce schéma : dans les deux disciplines, les indicateurs relationnels prédisent significativement l’intérêt académique, lequel constitue à son tour le prédicteur le plus fort de la performance scolaire. Ces analyses soutiennent l’idée que la qualité relationnelle agit essentiellement de manière indirecte, en nourrissant la motivation des élèves.

Des analyses plus approfondies seront présentées lors de la communication, notamment concernant le rôle spécifique de l’empathie enseignante, qui apparaît comme un levier motivationnel central, en cohérence avec son importance documentée dans la qualité de la relation pédagogique et l’engagement des élèves (Gweth Bi Bisso et al., 2025).

In recent years, several studies have highlighted a growing concern regarding the mental health of children and adolescents (Inchley et al., 2020). From a preventive perspective, it is essential to foster protective factors and personal resources from early childhood (Colizzi et al., 2020). In this context, positive education (Seligman, 2009) offers an evidence-based approach that integrates the promotion of well-being and transversal competences development in school settings. Chodkiewicz and Boyle (2017) suggest that for this kind of interventions to be more effective, they should be implemented by teachers. Moreover, school is a favourable environment for the development of these aspects, as it is a place where children spend much of their time. Furthermore, involving the teachers also means proposing a language related to positive psychology that can also be used in other classroom activities.

An approach linked to psychology and positive education is that of character strengths (Peterson & Seligman, 2004). Studies show that interventions based on this framework represents a promising pathway to enhance children’s social-emotional competences and well-being (Quinlan et al., 2020; Lavy, 2020). However, there is a lack of study investigating the effects of character strengths-based interventions in pre-primary and primary school.

The present study investigated the efficacy of a character strengths-based pedagogical intervention carried out in pre-primary and primary schools in the Canton of Ticino. The project adopted a research–training approach involving 17 teachers in the co-construction and implementation of classroom activities. The design of this quasi-experimental study was longitudinal with a control group. A total of 501 pupils were involved (289 children in the experimental group and 212 children in the control group). Before and after the intervention, data on the children's well-being, socio-emotional competence, self-esteem and self-efficacy were collected using validated and adapted instruments: the EPOCH questionnaire (Kern et al., 2016) for well-being, the SSIS SEL Brief Scales–Student Form (Elliott et al., 2020; Italian version: Cavioni et al., 2023) for socio-emotional competences, and the Middle Years Development Instrument (Schonert-Reichl et al., 2013; Italian version: Castelli et al., 2018) for self-esteem and self-efficacy. For pupils under seven, adapted teacher-report versions were used. Moreover, interviews were conducted with teachers both during and at the end of the intervention.

Preliminary quantitative results on pre-post data show that socio-emotional competences are strongly correlated with well-being. More importantly, we found a significant positive effect of the intervention in pre-primary and first-grade pupils: both their socio-emotional competences and well-being improved compared to the control group. In higher grades, the effect was not significant.

Teachers’ qualitative feedback highlighted that having a shared vocabulary of character strengths helped teachers and pupils focus on positive traits and created a better classroom climate.