Moral injury and its association with teacher wellbeing, and retention: a systematic narrative review

Teacher shortages and declining wellbeing continue to present significant challenges internationally. While burnout has dominated explanations of teacher distress and attrition, emerging scholarship suggests that moral injury, a form of psychological harm arising from violations of deeply held moral values, may offer a critical alternative lens. This systematic narrative review synthesises theoretical and empirical literature examining moral injury in K-12 teaching and its association with teacher wellbeing and workforce retention. Following PRISMA guidelines, a systematic search of ten databases and supplementary citation searching identified 29 eligible studies published between 2015 and 2024, encompassing qualitative, quantitative, mixed-methods, and theoretical designs. Narrative synthesis, supported by reflexive thematic analysis, was used to integrate findings across this heterogeneous body of literature. Interpreted through the Theory of Practice Architectures, the review examined how cultural discursive, material-economic, and social-political arrangements shape teachers’ exposure to potentially morally injurious experiences. Across studies, moral injury was commonly linked to systemic conditions, particularly neoliberal policy logics, racialised inequities, and institutional constraints that impeded teachers’ capacity to enact care, justice, and professional integrity. Moral injury was associated with biopsychosocial distress, diminished occupational wellbeing, destabilisation of professional identity, and intentions to leave teaching. The value of this work lies in making visible forms of harm that are often normalised or obscured within mainstream accounts of teacher wellbeing. By foregrounding moral injury as a systemic and relational phenomenon, the review challenges individualised explanations of teacher distress and highlights the need for conceptual refinement, empirical investigation, and system-level responses to support teacher wellbeing and retention.