Who caters for the teacher's needs? The role of teachers’ working conditions for students’ achievement and motivation in selected TIMSS 2015 countries

Like any employee, teachers’ well-being, commitment and performance are influenced by their working conditions. Nonetheless, most research focuses on teachers’ characteristics overlooking the work context. This article describes the associations between teachers’ working conditions and student outcomes —mathematics achievement and motivation— by applying the Model of Job Demands and Resources to data from six middle-income countries which participated in TIMSS 2015: Botswana, Chile, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Lithuania, and Thailand. The results show that teachers’ perception of having high job demands can be associated with lower student outcomes, while teachers’ perception of having high resources can be associated with better student outcomes. Interesting differences between countries and variables are highlighted.