<![CDATA[Teacher work engagement in driving educational innovation is critical for instructional quality in the digital era. However, empirical insights into how organizational resources shape teachers' personal life spaces and pedagogical adoption within transitional urban environments remain scarce. This study examines an extended conceptual framework integrating Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) and Conservation of Resources (COR) theories by evaluating the direct and indirect effects of institutional job resources, including work environment, rewards, and recognition, as well as career development, on teacher engagement in educational innovation as mediated by work-life balance. Utilizing a causal-associative quantitative design, empirical data were gathered from 709 public junior high school teachers in Lubuklinggau City, Indonesia, selected via proportionate stratified random sampling (e = 1.7). Hypotheses were tested using Structural Equation Modeling-Partial Least Squares (SEM-PLS). The structural findings demonstrate that the physical and social work environment (? = 0.314, p < 0.001) and career development pathways (B = 0.241, p = 0.002) directly enhance engagement in educational innovation. Furthermore, work-life balance operates as a vital psychological mediator bridging contextual resources to pedagogical engagement. Crucially, the study uncovered a structural anomaly termed the "decoupling effect," in which formal rewards and recognition boosted direct professional engagement (B = 0.285, p < 0.001) but exerted no significant influence on teachers' work-life balance (B = 0.042, p = 0.541), thereby failing to trigger indirect mediation (p = 0.556). In transitional urban buffer zones, formal rewards act as transactional external motivators confined to the workplace. Educational authorities are advised to prioritize physical infrastructure modernization and administrative workload reduction over ceremonial rewards to secure teacher well-being and sustain pedagogical transformation.]]>
