TEACHER MENTAL HEALTH AND SCHOOL CLIMATE: STRESS FACTORS, BURNOUT, AND INSTITUTIONAL SUPPORT STRATEGIES

Abstract

This article presents an analysis of recent scientific production on teacher mental health and its direct effects on the school climate, focusing on stress factors, burnout, and institutional support strategies. The research motivation stems from the increasing emotional distress of teachers in different school systems, a phenomenon widely recognized in the literature as one of the main challenges to the quality of education and the healthy functioning of schools. The central problem lies in the need to understand how studies describe these factors, how these conditions impact pedagogical and organizational relationships, and what types of institutional interventions have proven most effective in promoting teacher well-being. The overall objective of this work is to systematize the results found in the literature, identifying trends, convergences, and gaps related to the determinants of occupational stress in teaching and school actions aimed at mental health. The methodology adopted consists of a qualitative literature review, encompassing ten publications between 2016 and 2025, including nine scientific articles and one book. The searches were conducted on the Google Scholar and SciELO platforms, prioritizing studies that address teacher stress, burnout, school climate, and institutional care policies. Data analysis was conducted through thematic analysis. The results show that the literature converges in pointing to the intensification of pedagogical demands, emotional overload, and lack of institutional support as central factors for teacher illness. They also show that a dysfunctional school climate, marked by conflicts, lack of resources, and fragility in professional relationships, potentiates the emergence of burnout symptoms. Conversely, studies indicate that institutional support strategies, such as welcoming programs, democratic management, listening spaces, and continuing education policies, contribute significantly to the promotion of mental health and the strengthening of the school environment. It is concluded that the research objective was achieved, offering a critical and integrated overview of scientific production and reinforcing the relevance of institutional policies that care for teachers as an essential condition for improving the school climate. The study also points to the need for more specific investigations into effective interventions in the Brazilian educational context.