A phenomenological inquiry into supporting and hindering factors of Palestinian teacher wellbeing under military occupation in the West Bank and East Jerusalem

Teacher wellbeing under military occupation represents a fundamentally understudied dimension of occupational health in conflict-affected settings. While existing research predominantly emerges from contexts of relative stability, Palestinian educators in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem navigate a fragmented reality shaped by prolonged military occupation, territorial fragmentation, movement restrictions, and differential legal systems. Guided by positive psychology and structural violence theory, this phenomenological study explored both supporting and hindering factors influencing teacher wellbeing in the occupied Palestinian territory. Data were collected using a phenomenological design with purposive and snowball sampling to recruit 23 Palestinian teachers across four geographic zones: Urban West Bank (Area A), Rural West Bank/Area C, East Jerusalem, and UNRWA refugee camps. Data collection incorporated methodological triangulation via semi-structured interviews, focus groups, and narrative frames. Participants described key supporting factors as collective resilience and peer solidarity (pedagogical sumud), professional identity and moral purpose, community recognition and cultural value of education, and adaptive coping strategies. Conversely, participants identified significant hindering factors as geographically differentiated trauma exposure, institutional fragmentation and inconsistent support systems, checkpoint-related stress and mobility restrictions, curriculum constraints and professional ethical distress, and material insecurity. Teachers articulated that their wellbeing was significantly enhanced by strong collegial bonds, community appreciation, and sense of professional mission. However, participants perceived that daily exposure to checkpoints, administrative fragmentation, forced displacement threats, economic precarity, and systemic constraints on professional autonomy severely diminished their wellbeing and capacity to teach effectively. The findings contribute to understanding teacher wellbeing within frameworks of positive psychology and structural violence, indicating that promoting support-related factors while addressing occupation-induced hindering factors can ultimately enhance both teacher experiences and educational outcomes in protracted conflict contexts.