The Future of Education

This paper presents a comparative study of teacher wellbeing in two secondary CLIL contexts, Spain and France, adopting an ecological qualitative perspective that conceptualises wellbeing as a dynamic construct shaped by the interplay of individual, relational, institutional, and policy-related factors [1, 2, 3]. While previous research on bilingual education has largely prioritised student outcomes, language development, and methodological effectiveness [4], the present study focuses on teachers’ professional and emotional experiences in order to identify both shared and context-specific dimensions of wellbeing across the two countries. The findings reveal important similarities between Spain and France. In both contexts, teacher wellbeing is positively associated with supportive collegial relationships, a strong sense of professional commitment, opportunities for pedagogical development, and the ability to manage the additional demands of CLIL through adaptive coping strategies. Teachers in both countries also report that recognition from school leadership and constructive interaction with students contribute substantially to their sense of professional fulfilment. At the same time, the comparison highlights significant differences. In Spain, wellbeing appears to be more closely linked to interpersonal support, collaborative school cultures, and teachers’ sense of vocation, whereas in France it is more strongly conditioned by organisational factors such as institutional coordination, workload distribution, and the clarity of curricular expectations. Moreover, Spanish teachers tend to emphasise emotional reward despite demanding conditions, while French teachers more frequently foreground structural constraints and tensions between innovation and institutional regulation. These differences suggest that, although CLIL teachers in both countries face comparable challenges, the resources through which wellbeing is sustained are not identical. The study therefore underlines the need for context-sensitive policies and support measures adapted to distinct educational cultures within European bilingual education.