Scientific research has pointed to the importance of understanding the relation between curricular autonomy, work engagement and teachers’ well-being. To our knowledge few efforts have been made from a theoretical framework, and  no systematic evidence has been provided regarding the interrelation between these three concepts. This study concerns an initial phase of a larger project entitled “Times of change and changing times: a study of the relationships between curricular autonomy and teacher engagement and well-being of teachers” which aims to: understand the relationship between the development of autonomy policies and curricular flexibility in educational contexts and the professional involvement and well-being of teachers to analyse the ways in which autonomy and curricular flexibility policies have been received, interpreted, appropriated and put into practice by teachers. The aim of this study is to collect and analyse scientific articles, identify gaps in the literature, and provide research trends and suggestions for future studies.The starting question for this study was: What is the relationship among curricular autonomy, professional involvement and teacher well-being between 2015 and 2023? This time period was chosen given the start of legislation on curricular autonomy in Portugal,  begun in 2016, following the Pilot Projects for Pedagogical Innovation (PPIP), which preceded a modification of the curriculum in Decree-Law 55/2018.

Curriculum management is recognised as a complex and dynamic process that takes place at various levels, as stated by Roldão and Almeida (2018), from the macro level (decisions made by the supervisory body regarding common learning at national level), the meso level, which includes the institutional context (school and its educational and curricular projects) and the group level (through the projects that each educational team draws up for a class) to the micro level (concerning each teacher, on a daily basis in the classroom). On the other hand, during the period in which this study is being conducted, the world has also come up against a change in times: the times of digitalisation, distance learning and the pandemic.

In these changing times, schools and teachers have also introduced new terms, concepts, working times and spaces to their professional work, taking into account the priority of addressing the increasing inequalities between pupils. As a result of new problems and ongoing needs, the performance of the teaching role is likely to promote both burnout and professional engagement. In line with more recent approaches to positive psychology, teacher well-being is a growing field of study, with a steady increase in literature in recent years (Dreer, 2023; McCallum, 2021; Salmela-Aro, Hietajärvi, & Lonka, 2019). Subjective well-being, as described by Keyes (2002), can be seen as a measure of mental health, made up of three dimensions: emotional, social and psychological.

The benefits of well-being seem to go beyond psychological advantages for individuals and employee retention for institutions, as evidenced by studies in different organisations. well-being fosters the development and maintenance of positive relationships between teachers and students, as well as the establishment of a supportive learning climate and learning (Barroso et.al. 2019). On the other hand, work engagement is a relatively new concept when applied to teachers, in regard to work expectations and commitment to their performance. Some authors define work engagement as an enthusiastic state of involvement of the individual in crucial and personal activities, which is diametrically opposed to burnout (Dreer, 2023).

In order to accomplish the stated goals and respond to the initial question, a systematic review of the literature is being conducted and qualitatively analysed using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) method, which is divided into three phases: identification, screening, and inclusion of studies (Page et al., 2021; Vilelas, 2020; Shamseer et al., 2015).The search and analysis are ongoing. For the evidence-gathering process we will use the data extraction tool Covidence. The inclusion criteria defined are scientific articles, published between January 2015 and December 2023, in English, Portuguese, Spanish and French retrieved from the Portuguese Open Access Databases (RCAAP), Scientific Electronic Library Online (SciELO), ScienceDirect and Scopus, considering the subjects Social Sciences, Psychology, Decision Sciences, Arts and Humanities. The exclusion criteria selected are theses, dissertations, book chapters and communications at conferences, protocols, duplicate documents, studies with unavailable full texts or in languages other than those selected for inclusion, or with a different focus. As Costa and Rouco (2023) point out, the review process will follow a strict protocol per database, in order to avoid bias in the data collection process and, consequently, in the process of analysing and discussing the data. Thus, the review process will be conducted by two reviewers, under the supervision of other project members, who will resolve any conflicts that might emerge.

Considering that systematic review uses rigorous and explicit procedures to identify, select, and critically evaluate relevant research, it is expected to present a description of the studies screened using a flowchart using the PRISMA method, as well as a table of the studies selected for the review. We expect that this research can help identify different approaches to curricular autonomy, work engagement and teacher well-being, in order to find some correlations and summarise a theoretical frame of reference that will be discussed. Thus, this systematic review aims to contribute to a more in-depth understanding of the relation between concepts that have been identified as emerging issues in educational processes. It also attempts to provide a broader view of the authors' different perspectives on the phenomena under study, bearing in mind that the relation between curricular autonomy, teachers' work engagement and well-being may be enhanced by the diversity of school contexts. In regards to reviewing the authors' methodological strategies, including study design, sample characteristics, measures, and data analysis, we aim to synthesise a methodological framework. Furthermore, this will allow us to identify gaps in the literature that might guide the directions for future studies, which can be particularly important given the current challenges that new technologies pose to the teaching profession, along with the recent introduction of legislation on curricular autonomy in Portugal.

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