La scuola tra passato e presente: come gli insegnanti fanno fronte alle richieste lavorative e si sentono engaged

The present study represents a contribution to the literature on the Job Demands-Resources model in the Italian context. The aim was to investigate whether the job resources (opportunities for personal development and support of the School Principal) may act as moderators (buffer hypothesis) in the relationship between job demands (responsibility, inequity and pupil misbehavior) and work engagement. Furthermore, consistent with the Conservation of Resources theory, it was hypothesized that job resources are particularly relevant when teachers are confronted with high levels of job demands (coping hypothesis). 157 teachers (69% women) of upper secondary school participated in the study, by filling in a questionnaire with well-validated scales. On the whole, the hierarchical moderated regression results confirm the first hypothesis, but do not support the coping hypothesis. In the light of social and organizational changes that characterize the current school system, these findings suggest the importance of investing on job resources in order to promote teacher's well-being and enable them to cope with their job demands.