Last year we released the Principals Health and Wellbeing Australian report, and yet again the results saddened me.
Aussie schools have great principals who are generally pretty confident in their abilities, who derive deep meaning from their work, who are satisfied with a lot of their work, and feel like they’re exploring their passion. But so many fantastic principals are struggling to flourish – despite these boosters and resources. Meaningfulness, confidence and passion do breed job satisfaction but they’re often counterbalanced by excessive demands, poor support and society-wide difficulties.
The best principals I know, the exemplary ones, are overburdened and under-resourced, trying their best to lead communities and help shape our future leaders, while coping with what can feel like a constant onslaught of distress and accountability.
After collecting the first round of data in 2011 I was shocked to see the results regarding offensive behaviours. Offensive behaviours include gossip/slander, bullying, sexual harassment, threats of physical violence, acts of physical violence and conflicts/quarrels and leaders are asked how often, if at all these incidents occur.
Experiences of bullying, and receiving threats or acts of physical violence in the workplace are increasing – and it’s worse for female leaders.
Every year antisocial behaviours towards school leaders worsen – slowly but steadily.
“The highest prevalence (of offensive behaviours) is in Government primary schools (42%; 10.5 times the population rate). The lowest prevalence is in Independent P/K-12 schools (5%, which is still 1.3 times the population rate).” (Riley, 2019)
We’ve collected data from educational leaders in Australia, New Zealand and Ireland and the story is similar. Now we have a very clear picture indeed. And it’s not pretty.
I was yelled at and threatened with a shotgun. The Dad was upset about treatment of his son – he wasn’t in the same class as his friend.
Most principals love their jobs and find great meaning in them, but are commonly struggling to cope with excessive demands.
The highest sources of stress (apart from being abused on the job) are always Sheer Quantity of Work, and Lack of Time to Focus on Teaching and Learning. And over the years we’ve seen stress due to Mental Health Issues of Students and Mental Health Issues of Staff steadily rise. There’s often too much going on, too much of the time, with too many emotionally draining demands.
This chronic stress has long-term health outcomes, and we see that in the data too.
Burnout levels are 1.6 times higher than the average worker, sleeping disturbances are 2.2 times higher, and depressive, cognitive and somatic stress symptoms are 1.3-1.5 times higher. These are not sustainable ways to feel.
Principals need more support, and higher funding devoted to our education system. The average age of a principal (mid-fifties) puts them within 10 years of retirement, and I’ve watched many seek a way out of the job early because their lives are being eaten up. That’s no good for them, and no good for the nations of the world.
Principals need to be well-resourced, able to steer confidently, unafraid to take chances and able to weather storms securely. Regular professional support is needed cope with the demands of the job, have a safe place to explore feelings and responses, and learn new ways of attending to everyone’s needs and their own.
System support or “Social capital refers to the connections, trust and reciprocity between individuals and within communities, and the resources that can arise from these connections.”
After running the Principal Health and Wellbeing project and studying the emotional demands of educational leadership for 10 years, I moved into my own consultancy. Working in research is wonderful, but I love people more than data, and discourse more than debate. My attention is focused on assisting principals through support, interventions and education.
- Access Professional Supervision – to help individual principals sort through complex issues and cope better.
- Enjoy Group Supervision and live Online Classes – regular peer support and continuing personal/professional development.
- Take Assessments – measure your quality of life, explore your strengths, understand your emotional intelligence and then plan for growth.
- Book workshops and presentations – tailor-made for organisations and teams to help leaders flourish in complex times. Deep-dive and immerse yourself in understanding your current wellbeing needs, your strengths and virtues, your values and valued direction, and leave with a renewed sense of purpose and a clear personal plan.
Book a strategy call, email me aimee@thrivingprincipals.com or call now +61 456 033 200