On the Importance of Well-being for the Attractiveness of the Teaching Profession in the European Education Area. Recommendations from the Erasmus+ Teacher Academy Teacher Education for a Future in Flux (teff)

This White Paper was developed by the Erasmus+ Teacher Academy Teacher Education for a Future in Flux (teff), to examine and recommend ways in which teacher well-being can strengthen the attractiveness of the teaching profession within the European Education Area (EEA). The results from cross-national surveys and collaborative research across ten European partner institutions reveal a tension between factors that attract and detract teachers to the teaching profession: While teachers are motivated by their impact and contribution to society, they face systemic challenges including high workload, administrative burden, and limited participation in decision-making. In order to address this tension, we recommend (1) early support of realistic professional expectation formation; (2) strengthened practice-oriented, research-based and well-being-informed initial training; (3) enhanced teacher agency and involvement in educational development opportunities; (4) expanded professional learning communities and European mobility opportunities; and (5) embedded well-being as a core indicator of educational quality across the EEA. We further recommend systematic monitoring of teacher well-being and sustained policy commitment to create resilient, attractive teaching careers across Europe.