Search results

1 – 10 of over 12000
Book part
Publication date: 30 November 2023

Cameron Hauseman

In this chapter, I propose a model for how school-level leaders manage their emotions. This model consists of six components. School-level leaders typically have little direct…

Abstract

In this chapter, I propose a model for how school-level leaders manage their emotions. This model consists of six components. School-level leaders typically have little direct influence over the first component of the model, which are the socio-contextual factors in the schools, school communities and jurisdictions in which they work. A school-level leader's identity, sense of self and their personal characteristics comprise the second component of the model. The third component of the model is a multi-directional arrow demonstrating connections and interactions between the socio-contextual factors and a school-level leader's sense of self. Factors that heighten school-level leaders' emotional experiences in schools are considered as part of the fourth component of this model for school-level leaders' emotional regulation. The fifth component are the emotional regulation strategies school-level leaders use to manage emotions that emerge as part of their workday, while influence of supports and professional learning are considered as part of the sixth component, Finally, the model also accounts for the chain reactions and feedback loops that can occur when an individual utilizes an emotional regulation strategy that is unsuccessful. Those processes produce new emotions that must be regulated using similar, or different, emotional regulation strategy(ies).

Details

The Emotional Life of School-Level Leaders
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-83753-137-0

Book part
Publication date: 30 November 2023

Cameron Hauseman

School-level leaders are suffering. They are experiencing a well-being crisis after years of working long work hours, managing an unrelenting workload, and navigating shifting…

Abstract

School-level leaders are suffering. They are experiencing a well-being crisis after years of working long work hours, managing an unrelenting workload, and navigating shifting policy contexts. School leaders that are experiencing work intensification and highly stressful work environments can suffer personal and professional consequences. On a professional level, school-level leaders are immersed in intensified work environments that mute the power and potential increasingly associated with their role. This chapter describes challenges that threaten school-level leaders' productivity, job satisfaction, happiness and well-being, such as work intensification, burnout, stress as well as loneliness and isolation. In these ways, the emotional aspects of their work can influence school-level leaders' ability to lead happy and healthy lives, while also having the supplementary effect of making the position less attractive for the next generation of school leaders. Research conducted in jurisdictions around the world is discussed throughout the chapter to demonstrate that the well-being crisis experienced by school leaders is an international phenomenon. I also use this discussion of the challenges facing contemporary school-level leaders to encourage them to reconnect with the reasons why, and the emotions they felt, when first pursuing a position in K-12 school-level leadership.

Details

The Emotional Life of School-Level Leaders
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-83753-137-0

Book part
Publication date: 30 November 2023

Cameron Hauseman

Emotions are everywhere and, as multiple scholars have argued, can be considered a fundamental part of the human experience. Individuals are expected to behave in socially…

Abstract

Emotions are everywhere and, as multiple scholars have argued, can be considered a fundamental part of the human experience. Individuals are expected to behave in socially appropriate ways in a variety of public and private social situations, which often involve managing one's emotions. The management and regulation of emotions are also key components of effective school leadership. This chapter unpacks the emotional aspects of school leadership by exploring how the management of emotions is fundamental to the success of headmasters, principals, vice-principals, and other school-level leaders. I also provide the rationale for using the term ‘school-level leaders’ and call for emotional authenticity in educational leadership. Then I outline several benefits an increased scholarly and practical focus on the emotional aspects of school-level leadership offers for teachers and other school staff, school-level leaders themselves, and the students they serve on a daily basis. I also provide a short description of the methodology used for the participant quotes used to add richness and contextualize key themes explored in Chapters 4 and 5. The chapter concludes with an outline of how the rest of this book is organized and offers additional insight into the topics explored in the forthcoming chapters.

Details

The Emotional Life of School-Level Leaders
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-83753-137-0

Book part
Publication date: 30 November 2023

Cameron Hauseman

This chapter aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the ways in which emotions, emotional regulation and emotional labour are treated by various theoretical perspectives that…

Abstract

This chapter aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the ways in which emotions, emotional regulation and emotional labour are treated by various theoretical perspectives that influence the work of school-level leaders. Notions of professionalism and the scientific/rationalist roots of administrative theory (e.g., Taylor, 1911) relegated emotions and other subjective leadership qualities to the sidelines of the seminal debates in the educational administration field. That has changed since the turn of the twenty-first century as scholars have begun to acknowledge that the very nature of school-level leadership involves emotional components and success as a school-level leader demands effective emotional regulation. The chapter includes an evidence-based analysis of the role(s) that emotions, emotional regulation and emotional labour play in school-level leaders' work. I also discuss two broad categories of theoretical perspectives surrounding the emotional aspects of school-level leadership. The first primarily considers how school-level leaders personally experience emotional phenomenon in schools, while the second prioritizes how socio-contextual elements that influence their emotional experiences in the workplace. I conclude the chapter by discussing how school-level leaders manage emotions they experience as part of their job is an important piece missing from the models and frameworks.

Details

The Emotional Life of School-Level Leaders
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-83753-137-0

Book part
Publication date: 30 November 2023

Cameron Hauseman

School-level leaders should not be expected to be mired in emotional turmoil and sacrifice their own health, happiness and well-being to do their jobs effectively. While the…

Abstract

School-level leaders should not be expected to be mired in emotional turmoil and sacrifice their own health, happiness and well-being to do their jobs effectively. While the emotional aspects of school-level leadership have continued to evolve and become increasingly complex since the turn of the twenty-first century, the supports available to these individuals remain outdated, ineffective, and moribund. If mentoring, anonymous telephone support lines and other ‘old school’ approaches for supporting school leaders were still effective, they would not be struggling to deal with the emotional aspects of their work and workload. Further, there is a need to provide ‘just-in-time’ supports that are available to school-level leaders when concerns arise. Absent structural changes, isolated and individualized approaches to self-care cannot mitigate the challenges principals face or the physical, mental and emotional toll associated with their work and workload. Communal strategies and policy levers are recommended in an effort to go beyond mindfulness and other (potentially) individualistic and neoliberal approaches to self-care. This chapter also explores how principal preparation programmes and other formal professional learning opportunities are an untapped resource in terms of strengthening school-level leaders' emotional regulation capacity and building a general appreciation for the emotional aspects of school-level leadership.

Details

The Emotional Life of School-Level Leaders
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-83753-137-0

Book part
Publication date: 30 November 2023

Cameron Hauseman

The large role that emotions play in the work lives of school-level leaders is absent from much of the research exploring what they do on a daily basis. This chapter discusses…

Abstract

The large role that emotions play in the work lives of school-level leaders is absent from much of the research exploring what they do on a daily basis. This chapter discusses future directions for research surrounding the emotional aspects of school-level leadership and how this research can influence practice in meaningful ways. For example, it may be beneficial for future research to focus on principals who are struggling to manage their emotions. This would allow researchers to identify factors or practices associated with school-level leaders who are less able to manage their emotions in a positive manner and provide supports. Further, more large-scale research surrounding school-level leadership is needed to better understand how the ability to manage emotions intersects with other challenges in contemporary principals' work. Research of this nature would also provide additional avenues of support for current leaders. Future directions for practice include an emphasis on changing the culture so that school-level leaders who are struggling feel empowered to reach out beyond their immediate colleagues for supports. Without a renewed appreciation for the emotional aspects of their work, principals, vice-principals and other school-level leaders will be unable to maximise their impact on student outcomes.

Details

The Emotional Life of School-Level Leaders
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-83753-137-0

Book part
Publication date: 30 November 2023

Cameron Hauseman

Healthy and adaptive strategies for regulating emotions and coping with the demands of their jobs can help school-level leaders mitigate the factors and forces heightening the…

Abstract

Healthy and adaptive strategies for regulating emotions and coping with the demands of their jobs can help school-level leaders mitigate the factors and forces heightening the emotional aspects of their work, stave off the negative effects of work intensification and achieve wellness. As with most individuals in most professions, school-level leaders use several different strategies to manage their emotions and cope with the stresses associated with their work. Some of these coping strategies are associated with positive outcomes including situation selection and exercising autonomy over their workday, talking to colleagues, reappraisal, humour, controlled breathing, exercise and engaging in hobbies outside of work. However, even the most experienced and effective school-level leaders demonstrate a proclivity for engaging in coping strategies associated with maladaptive and negative outcomes. These maladaptive strategies include worrying about events over which they have little or no control, masking one's emotions using expressive suppression, using thought suppression to deal with symptoms of emotional exhaustion, distraction, manipulating the emotions of others as well as use of illegal or prescription drugs, alcohol and other forms of self-medication. This chapter concludes with a discussion of how there can be some overlap between these strategies in practice and how they are classified.

Details

The Emotional Life of School-Level Leaders
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-83753-137-0

Book part
Publication date: 30 November 2023

Cameron Hauseman

Several factors and forces in school-level leaders' work can heighten emotions and incite emotionally charged situations. Challenges that heighten school-level leaders' emotions…

Abstract

Several factors and forces in school-level leaders' work can heighten emotions and incite emotionally charged situations. Challenges that heighten school-level leaders' emotions are related to systemic factors, people factors and personal factors. The extent to which each of these different factors influence the emotional experiences of school-level leaders, and whether that influence ends up being positive, negative or neutral, is contextual in nature. The systemic factors include encountering barriers when advocating for students, managing an intensified and expanding workload, working within disorienting policy contexts, and receiving a lack of support from their employer. Changes in school-level leaders' work and workload due to the COVID-19 pandemic that heightened emotions and emotional labour are also considered when discussing the systemic factors. People factors evident in the literature include workplace conflict, gendered power relations and crises and tragedies in the school community. The emotional labour inherent in school-level leadership comes to the forefront when considering the impact of these people factors on emotions at work because school-level leaders are tasked with making decisions that can have an immense impact on peoples' lives. Personal factors discussed in this chapter surround a school-level leader's individual emotional intelligence abilities and media attention directed towards them.

Details

The Emotional Life of School-Level Leaders
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-83753-137-0

Article
Publication date: 13 December 2023

Xin Zheng and Ying Luo

Whilst professional learning communities (PLCs) have been widely explored at the school level, they have received less attention at the departmental level. The study takes the…

Abstract

Purpose

Whilst professional learning communities (PLCs) have been widely explored at the school level, they have received less attention at the departmental level. The study takes the variance between departments and the role of departmental teacher leaders into consideration, and the relationships amongst departmental-level PLC dimensions, two types of teacher leadership (TL) and individual teacher self-efficacy are investigated.

Design/methodology/approach

The sample consisted of 907 teachers from 81 departments in Chinese schools. The associations between the studied variables were explored through a multi-level analysis approach.

Findings

The results show that two specific characteristics of departmental PLCs, namely reflective dialogue (RD) and collective responsibility (CR), exhibit a positive correlation with individual teacher self-efficacy. Additionally, the findings indicate that teacher transformational leadership significantly predicts teacher self-efficacy, whereas teacher instructional leadership (IL) does not emerge as a significant predictor. These findings may be attributed to the contextual factors of Chinese teachers' collective work and the practice of teacher leaders.

Originality/value

This research contributes to the existing literature by addressing the variance between departments and uncovering the impacts of departmental PLC dimensions on individual teachers. Furthermore, two TL styles at the departmental level are differentiated, and their distinct influences on teacher self-efficacy are further analysed.

Details

Journal of Professional Capital and Community, vol. 9 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2056-9548

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 17 October 2023

Daniel Nordholm and Carl-Henrik Adolfsson

Using a large-scale school improvement program in Sweden as a case, this article aims to explore the state governance of a large-scale school improvement program in Sweden and how…

Abstract

Purpose

Using a large-scale school improvement program in Sweden as a case, this article aims to explore the state governance of a large-scale school improvement program in Sweden and how officials at the state agency level made sense of the reform ideas and operationalized them in policy actions.

Design/methodology/approach

Data were integrated from Swedish Government Official Reports and formal directives from the Ministry of Education. Officials of the Swedish National Agency for Education (SNAE) were also interviewed. Data were analyzed to identify how regulatory rules, professional norms and cultural–cognitive beliefs shaped SNAE's design of the program.

Findings

The article shows how different types of governance (i.e. regulatory rules, professional norms and cultural–cognitive beliefs) set the direction for managing large-scale school improvement. In particular, in the studied case, the lack of clear regulatory directives enabled sensemaking processes clearly influenced by normative ideas and cultural–cognitive beliefs.

Research limitations/implications

The findings are mostly presented from the perspective of managers, so further study is required to attain a broader understanding of the state agency level's role and function.

Practical implications

By illustrating the strengths of understanding various dimensions of educational governance, the findings are highly relevant to both policymakers and educational managers at different levels of school systems.

Originality/value

The article offers a valuable perspective on large-scale school improvement and educational governance by focusing on a level that has hitherto received little attention.

Details

International Journal of Educational Management, vol. 38 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0951-354X

Keywords

1 – 10 of over 12000