Conference Agenda

Poor teacher wellbeing is linked to increased stress and absenteeism, higher rates of burnout, higher organisational costs and greater intention to leave the profession, which according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), is as high as one in three resigning teachers having under five years of experience (OECD, 2025). Early career attrition significantly impacts student achievement, engagement, overall wellbeing and the climate in early childhood education centres and schools and also adds a significant financial burden to education systems (McCuaig et al., 2021).
Considering the interconnected nature of personal, professional, and systemic challenges faced by teachers, understanding and addressing teacher wellbeing is imperative, never more-so than during the current poly-crises confronting education systems globally. Our proposition is that mandating the inclusion of evidence-informed teacher wellbeing content in initial teacher education (ITE) programs will enhance the preparation of pre-service teachers (PSTs) and better equip them for the realities confronting them as they transition to become early career teachers.
ITE programs in Australia must meet accreditation standards and address the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership, 2022a). Because teacher wellbeing is not included as a professional standard that must be addressed, it is therefore left to providers to determine if and how they approach the topic. Consequently, PSTs being introduced to teacher wellbeing knowledge and skills varies around the nation. The development of a lifelong learning mindset, as advanced in the UNESCO and International Task Force on Teachers for Education 2030 Global report on teachers (2024), is considered a protective strategy, achieved via a shared definition of professional skills and knowledge to guide teacher education and development (OECD, 2005). Despite these aspirations, there is similarly wide diversity of program content in Europe due to local contexts and institutional controls (Caena, 2014).
The research was grounded in a holistic understanding of wellbeing, as defined by the World Health Organisation (WHO), which encompasses not only the absence of disease but also the ability to cope with stress, work productively, and contribute to one's community (WHO, 2021). The framework also draws on Indigenous ways of knowing, being, and doing, ensuring that the integration of wellbeing is culturally appropriate and inclusive (AITSL, 2022b).
The aim of this paper is to examine how the integration of teacher wellbeing into initial teacher education (ITE) programs can be done effectively to reduce early career teacher attrition, improve system sustainability and improve educational outcomes for students. We examine and draw upon European policy and practices in wellbeing education in ITE and the ways in which some European countries where they have introduced professional standards for teachers have incorporated wellbeing into ITE programs (for instance, Estonia) (Kutsekoda, 2018; Pedaste et al., 2019). We also consider the situation in Ireland where wellbeing has been embedded within the higher education sector (of which ITE is a subset), with three approaches being utilised: mandatory content, elective content and via curricular infusion (Byrne & Surdey, 2021; Surdey & Byrne, 2024).
The European context provides valuable insights and potential strategies for integrating teacher wellbeing into ITE programs in Australia and beyond against a backdrop of poly-crises, such as climate change, societal reactions and responses to terrorism, and shifting global allegiances.
Length: up to 600 words (currently 533

Introduction

Across Europe, adult and continuing education (ACE) plays a central role in lifelong learning, labour market integration, and social participation (OECD, 2021; Cedefop, 2025). European policy documents emphasise adult educators’ key role in securing educational quality. Over the past two decades they have been framed as a critical pillar of adult education systems (Ioannou, 2023). At the same time, however, their initial education and continuing professional development have received limited systematic policy attention, resulting in weakly structured career pathways and insufficient professional recognition.

Employment structures in ACE remain fragmented in many European contexts. Research points to heterogeneous qualification routes, limited career prospects, and a high prevalence of freelance or part-time work (Milana et al., 2018). In several countries, adult educators combine teaching with other professional activities and lack stable institutional affiliation (Ioannou, 2023). Similar patterns are visible in Germany, where a substantial share of ACE staff work on a free basis (Martin & Schrader, 2021).

Despite these structurally insecure conditions, empirical studies—particularly from Germany—indicate that adult education is often a consciously chosen profession. Educators report strong intrinsic motivations, especially the desire to share knowledge and support learners, alongside high job satisfaction as an indicator of high professional well-being (Autorengruppe wb-personalmonitor, 2016). This constellation reflects a paradoxical professional context: precarious employment coexists with strong commitment. Yet, the interplay between working conditions, motivational processes, and instructional practice remains underexplored.

The Job Demands–Resources (JD–R) model (Bakker & Demerouti, 2007, 2017) provides a suitable framework to analyse such ambivalent contexts. By distinguishing between health-impairment processes and motivational processes, it explains how job and personal resources foster work engagement, which in turn predicts well-being and performance outcomes. Work engagement—usually defined as vigour, dedication, and absorption (Schaufeli et al., 2002)—has been linked to commitment, satisfaction and job performance in schools (Hakanen et al., 2006; Admiraal & Kittelsen Røberg, 2023), but has rarely been examined in adult education or connected to instructional quality (e.g. Reiter & Kuper, 2024).

Against this backdrop, this study applies the motivational pathway of the JD–R model to ACE. We examine how work-related resources (e.g., cooperation, feedback, career prospects) and personal resources (e.g., self-efficacy, enthusiasm) are associated with work engagement, and how engagement, in turn, relates to job satisfaction and cognitive activation as a core dimension of instructional quality and an indicator of job performance.

Instructional quality is commonly conceptualised as a multidimensional construct comprising classroom management, socio-emotional support, and cognitive activation (Klieme et al., 2009). Given the voluntary and heterogeneous nature of adult learning contexts, we argue that cognitively demanding and reflective learning opportunities are central (Desimone & Garet, 2015). For this proposal, we therefore focus on cognitive activation while acknowledging the broader multidimensional framework of instructional quality.

Using data from the German TAEPS study and structural equation modelling, we address two questions: (RQ 1) How are work-related and personal resources associated with work engagement among ACE teaching staff? (RQ 2) To what extent does work engagement mediate the relationship between these resources and (a) job satisfaction and (b) cognitive activation?

Simulation-based learning has become a prominent pedagogical approach in teacher education, particularly within clinical and practice-based models that emphasize experiential, reflective, and interaction-driven learning (Grossman et al., 2009). Clinical simulation relies on carefully designed scenarios enacted by professional actors and facilitated by trained educators, creating structured opportunities for novice and practicing teachers to engage with complex professional situations in a safe, reflective environment (Dotger & Chandler-Olcott, 2022).

Existing research in teacher education has largely focused on the micro-level of simulation practice, examining instructional design, facilitation strategies, emotional engagement, and reflective processes within the simulation workshop itself. While this body of work has substantially advanced understanding of pedagogical interaction in simulation, considerably less attention has been paid to the organizational and leadership conditions through which simulation quality is produced, stabilized, and sustained over time.

Drawing on perspectives from practice-based teacher education (Daniels & Varghese, 2020), professional learning (Darling-Hammond et al., 2017), and communities of practice (Patton & Parker, 2017), this study approaches simulation quality not solely as a function of individual pedagogical competence, but as an outcome constituted across interacting levels of professional practice and organizational organization. In this view, quality emerges through the alignment between micro-level professional interactions and macro-level infrastructures, including leadership practices, professional development pathways, shared professional language, and institutional norms. Thus, the study addresses the following research question: How is the quality of clinical simulation-based learning in teacher education constituted through the interplay between micro-level professional practices and macro-level organizational conditions?

To examine this question, the paper integrates findings from two complementary empirical phases conducted within a large-scale national simulation program in teacher education (blinded). Phase A focused on the micro-level of simulation practice and explored how facilitators and professional actors enact, negotiate, and reflect upon their roles during simulation workshops. Phase B extended the analytical lens to the macro-level, examining how simulation center directors conceptualize, develop, and support facilitator–actor collaboration within organizational, managerial, and policy frameworks.

By integrating these two perspectives, the study contributes to European and international debates on quality in teacher education, practice-based learning, and educational leadership. It positions clinical simulation as a professional practice whose effectiveness is shaped not only by pedagogical interaction, but by the organizational conditions under which such interaction is made possible and sustainable.