Vitality and Challenging Commitment in Times of Digital Intensification: Evidence for Healthy Educational Organizations Based on Teacher Engagement in Chile

TL;DR

This study explores how digital changes in education affect teacher engagement in Chile, finding two key dimensions of engagement influenced by personal and structural factors.

Contribution

The study identifies a two-factor structure of teacher engagement (Inspired Vitality and Challenging Commitment) and links it to sociodemographic and organizational variables.

Findings

A two-factor structure of teacher engagement was confirmed with strong fit indices.

Inspired Vitality is significantly associated with age, gender, region, and professional experience.

Challenging Commitment is linked to gender, region, and professional experience.

Abstract

The rapid digital transformation of education systems has profoundly changed teachers’ working conditions, intensified administrative demands, and highlighted territorial and organizational inequalities. In this context, understanding how these dynamics influence teacher engagement is essential for promoting healthy educational organizations. This study examined the factor structure of the UWES-17 and analyzed the relationship between engagement levels and sociodemographic variables in a sample of 314 elementary school teachers from four regions of Chile. Descriptive analyses, exploratory factor analysis with polychoric correlations and unweighted least squares, and confirmatory factor analysis using robust ULS and the Hull method were performed. The results showed a robust two-factor structure—Inspired Vitality and Challenging Commitment—with excellent fit indices. Freeman–Halton exact tests showed that Inspired Vitality was significantly associated with age, gender, region, location, administrative dependency, and professional experience, while Challenging Commitment was associated with gender, region, context, and professional experience. These findings indicate that teacher engagement is influenced by both structural inequalities and individual trajectories. The results underscore the need to strengthen organizational resources, regulate digital intensification, and reduce territorial gaps to promote teacher well-being.

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