Preliminary impacts of the “Learning to Read in a Healing Classroom” intervention on teacher well-being in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

•The LRHC initiative aimed to improve teacher well-being and effectiveness.•LRHC was implemented in primary schools in post-conflict Katanga province of the DRC.•LRHC led to statistically significant increases in female teachers' job dissatisfaction.•LRHC led to statistically significant increases in motivation for the least experienced teachers.

This article examines the impacts of a partial year of implementation of Learning to Read in a Healing Classroom (LRHC), a curricular and social-emotional teacher professional development intervention in southeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, on teacher professional well-being. Using a cluster-randomized control trial, this study assesses LRHC impacts on a sample of 346 teachers from 64 primary schools. We find statistically significant increases in job dissatisfaction for female teachers and increases in motivation for the least experienced teachers. Implications are discussed for the role of teacher professional development and well-being in improving education in low resource and conflict-affected contexts.