Australian Catholic University’s latest survey of principals sounds a dire warning, with school leaders reporting worsening levels of anxiety and depression as they continue to face high levels of physical violence, threats, and bullying.
Yet despite the spike in violence and the toll on mental health and wellbeing, the survey found school leaders showed surprisingly high levels of job satisfaction, and their work commitment remained high.
The Australian Principal Occupational Health, Safety and Wellbeing Survey is compiled by ACU’s Institute for Positive Psychology and Education (IPPE).
IPPE co-chief investigator and leading school wellbeing expert Theresa Dicke said the latest report compared the experience of school leaders who reported high levels of job satisfaction with those experiencing low levels of job satisfaction.
Not surprisingly, those with low job satisfaction have higher levels of anxiety and depression and a much higher intention to quit (82.3 per cent). Queensland school leaders recorded the highest intention to quit while ACT had the lowest.
“Both anxiety and depression have worsened but there has been a reduction in participants reporting severe depression,” Professor Dicke said.
“We need all school leaders to find their work satisfying, helping those who do not is now even more urgent given they are the ones likely to leave. Violent and threatening behaviours are taking an unfair toll on the committed and dedicated leaders and reduce the ability for schools to be positive environments focused on student learning.”
World-leading educational psychologist and co-chief investigator Herb Marsh, who has been involved with the report since 2015, said Australia risks losing an entire generation of school leaders without urgent reforms.
“Workload, violence, and mental health challenges continue to escalate,” Professor Marsh said. “However, despite this adversity, school leaders have maintained high levels of resilience and commitment; their professional dedication is to be applauded.”
The latest survey points to a substantial reduction in experienced school leadership which will exacerbate existing teacher shortages and create a nationwide leadership vacuum, placing further strain on an already overburdened education system.
It also reveals instances of physical violence increased 81.6 per cent since the survey started in 2011. Threats of violence is also at its highest since inception.
Read the full report here: https://healthandwellbeing.org/principal-reports
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