IPPN

Published: 13 May 2021

Almost 900 IPPN members participated in research conducted by Maynooth University last December on school leaders’ physical and mental health. The resulting report ‘Wellbeing in Post-Covid Schools: Primary school leaders’ Reimagining of the Future’ was published last week. The authors, Dr Jolanta Burke and Dr Majella Dempsey, presented some of the key findings at the IPPN Principals’ Conference on Friday 7 May.

The research highlights a number of very striking facts about Irish primary school leadership, which are set out below. It explores the ‘daily hassles’ that affect levels of stress and wellbeing experienced by individuals and also suggests ways that leaders can support their own wellbeing, as well as how the system can ease the pressures that lead to excessive stress.

School leaders’ health and wellbeing is at the heart of IPPN’s priorities and is a key driver of IPPN’s Sustainable Leadership Project. The Maynooth University research will be very useful in providing both context and reference material for the project, as it highlights some of the root causes and potential solutions to the issues around leaders’ workload, which can lead to ‘illbeing’. All members are encouraged to read the report. In the coming weeks, synopses will be provided of each of the chapters.

Key findings:
A key indicator of wellbeing according to the research, is the taking of breaks:

•  25% of leaders surveyed had never taken a ‘sos beag’ during the day, 42% take it some days. Only 33% take it every day or most days.
• 11% had never taken their lunch, 42% take it some days, 34% take it most days and only 13% take it daily.

Of all the 27 daily ‘hassles’ (Figure 10), the five tasks that had the highest impact on leaders were as follows:

1. Covid-related safety measures
2. Time pressures
3. Ensuring all DE guidelines are followed
4. Late night/Friday communications from DE
5. Procurement.

Teaching Principals (TPs) and Administrative Principals (APs)

• Within the next 5 years, 13% of leaders intend to stay in their roles, 17% are thinking of leaving, 32% will be retiring, and 38% are unsure
• 75% of principals work more than 40 hours a week
• 33% of APs work 50+ hours vs 26% of TPs
• • Almost 4 out of 10 admin principals teach 1-4 hours a week (n=164, 37%), 1 out of 10 teaches 5-10 hours a week (n=45, 10%) and 1 % teaches 11-20 hours
• 7 out of 10 teaching principals teach 21+ hours, 2 out of 10 teach 11-20 hours, and 7% teach less than 10 hours
• TPs reported lower levels of stress than APs
• TPs reported lower levels of personal wellbeing compared to administrative leaders
• No statistically significant differences were found in relation to their work-life balance
•  No differences were found in relation to their overall work-related wellbeing
• No differences were found in relation to their experiences of positive and negative emotions, quality of work-related relationships, physical health or their levels of happiness

Notable quotes and statistics as presented by the researchers:
“Worryingly, approximately a quarter of the primary school principals began to experience an increased number of symptoms of depression, even though the number of symptoms do not yet reach the threshold of depression. If they are not addressed over the coming months, and action is not taken to alleviate their symptoms, school leaders’ mental strain may persist and lead to diagnosable mental illness.”

• 2 out of 10 participants experience symptoms of severe stress
• 2 out of 10 participants experience symptoms of severe anxiety
• 1 out of 10 participants experience symptoms of depression
• 2 out of 10 leaders show high levels of resilience, 3 out of 10 show low levels of resilience -> IPPN CPD opportunity

“Whilst the pre-pandemic levels of primary school leaders are unknown, given that the general population reports some levels of flourishing, it is possible that the Covid-19 crisis has led to a decline in leaders’ wellbeing, which is why no flourishing levels were reported. This finding is worrying and requires addressing to avoid further decline in wellbeing”.

Notable quotes by school leaders who participated in the research:

• “I spend a portion of day being an SNA - assisting everyone else in the school!”
• “Work life balance is perfect - it’s bananas at work & bananas at home! This is not sustainable”
• “It has taken 5 hours to deal with each positive Covid case we have had in the school […] (and this has always happened outside of school hours)”
• “Drawing up policies (often a one for all does fit!) Draft policies could be drawn up for all schools and then changes could be made on an individual level. An operating procedures manual for schools. McDonalds and Starbucks don't expect each franchise to make up their own policies and procedures!”
• “Restoration of posts for large schools needs to be a priority”
• “Teachers feel very overwhelmed by the gaps in learning and the efforts to bridge those gaps when children are presenting with social and emotional needs”.

The full report is available to view and download from the Maynooth University research portal at http://mural.maynoothuniversity.ie/14412/