Key points
- A national study of 256 public school principals has found a deeply confronting insight into the experiences of public school principals
- Principals have reported negative impacts on their wellbeing ranging from insomnia, nightmares, stress, exhaustion, physical illness, trauma and PTSD
- Principals in the public school system are facing escalating psychosocial risks, including violence, burnout and emotional exhaustion
National research provides confronting insights into the pressures and strains of being a principal in Australian public schools today.
Led by Monash University in collaboration with Deakin University and the University of Sydney, this national study examines the emotional labour of Australian public school principals who tell, in their own words, how critical incidents have a substantial and negative impact on their wellbeing.
The project titled, the Invisible labour: Principals' emotional labour in volatile times, will release a series of reports in the coming months, identifying how emotional labour impacts school principals.
The study included 298 critical incident testimonies from 256 public school principals nationwide, additional stakeholder interviews and focus groups, a policy audit, and case studies from diverse school settings.
The findings from the first two reports focus on how principals responded to critical incidents in their school communities.
Lead Monash researcher, Professor Jane Wilkinson, explains how the stories of principals offer an unflinching and deeply human insight into principals' lived experiences.
"Australian public school principals are deeply committed to their communities, but often at great personal cost. Their emotional labour is vital yet undervalued," Professor Wilkinson said.
"Managing competing demands, and the emotional capacity to switch seamlessly between interactions with diverse members of school communities, can negatively affect principals' health and wellbeing, leading to chronic stress, burnout and lower job satisfaction."
Principals' stories of emotional labour, defined as the management of their emotions and that of others to meet professional expectations, is a critical but largely invisible aspect of school leadership, especially in increasingly volatile social, political and economic contexts.
Co-author, Professor Lucas Walsh, said that little is known about the emotional labour that principals experience.
"We know that principals' work is stressful, involving a constant juggle of often-conflicting demands of students, staff, parents and carers, amongst others. What is new is the intensified emotional management work of school leadership. Managing one's emotions and navigating those of others – 'emotional labour' – is widely recognised as a crucial aspect of principals' work, but little is known about it," Professor Walsh said.
"These reports call for major reform of the principalship that acknowledges their role as emotional leaders and first responders. Systemic change is essential to ensure principals are supported, retained and empowered to lead schools that foster equity and social justice."
Drawing from the first-hand experiences of principals during critical incidents including natural disasters, student and parent violence, and suicide, the findings offer a rare insight into the lives of public-school principals.
Key Findings
- Survey respondents said critical incidents had a substantial, negative impact on their wellbeing.
- Negative impacts on principal wellbeing included insomnia, nightmares, stress, exhaustion, struggling, feeling like an emotional wreck/shattered, physical illness, trauma, PTSD and leaving the profession.
- Principals face escalating psychosocial risks, including violence, burnout and emotional exhaustion.
- Emotional labour is intensified by systemic underfunding of public schools, complex student needs and increasingly fragmented communities.
- The emotional demands of leadership are gendered, racialised and classed, with women and principals in disadvantaged schools disproportionately affected.
- Emotional labour is largely absent from policy frameworks and principal role descriptions, despite being central to effective leadership.
- Principals routinely suppress personal emotions to maintain calm and professionalism, which can lead to emotional exhaustion and burnout. Isolation and lack of emotional support exacerbates stress, especially during crises. This emotional labour manifests physically in illness, trauma and even injury.
- Principals often act as first responders in critical incidents such as school violence, bushfires and floods, performing roles akin to police, paramedics and counsellors. The physical and emotional toll is compounded by inadequate support and recognition by governments.
- Rural and remote principals face particular challenges: isolation, lack of resources and community-wide trauma.
- Principals in low socio-economic schools confront growing inequities, heightened emotional demands and systemic underfunding.
A principal from an outer suburban school in Queensland explained what it was like dealing with critical incidents:
"[It was] like juggling 10 chainsaws. You are caring for students and staff, managing media, responding to the community, responding to the Minister's office, reaching out to the actual family of the child, shutting down ridiculous gossip, working with police and attending to a multitude of other tasks. You go home at night, [you] don't sleep and [then] repeat [it all again] the next day. After a few weeks it dies down and life returns to normal for everyone else. As my [Deputy Principal] said to me two weeks following [a critical incident] – I don't know how you're still standing. Adrenalin was my only answer."
Another principal reflected on their experience of the school burning down during a bushfire.
"I received a call from Emergency Management to inform me there was a fire. I felt like I was going to pass out, my mind was racing and I knew at that point I was going to have to find the strength to lead this community through a very rough time. The fire was devastating. Our whole community was in shock, everyone was desperate for answers.
"Parents wanted to know what was happening to their child's education, and staff were overwhelmed with emotion. It was totally overwhelming – I grabbed a pen and exercise book and started writing everything down. It was surreal. We were all traumatised and running on empty and many of us functioning on minimal sleep. The next eight weeks were a blur. All of my emotional resources went into the kids, staff and families. I talked, listened and was available from morning till night."
The report recommends:
- An urgent review of principal role descriptions to incorporate principals' first responder role and emotional labour. The review should be conducted by a working party comprising principal associations, unions and education departments in all states and territories.
- Establish peer support networks and access to clinical supervision for principals at all career stages.
- Increased provision of specialist roles and customised services for public schools, including behaviour support, disability, mental health and psychological services for students and staff, particularly in regional, rural, remote and highly disadvantaged schools.
These actions would reduce costs of principal workers compensation claims and attrition.
National President of the Australian Secondary Principals' Association, Andy Mison explains how the role of school principals has evolved into one of immense complexity, particularly in the 'volatile times' we now face.
"Australia's goals for equity, excellence, flourishing students, and positioning Australia as a global leader in education are entirely dependent on having strong, well-supported leaders," said Mr Mison.
"This research is profoundly significant because it moves beyond surface-level discussions of workload to examine the very real, yet often unacknowledged, emotional toll of the principalship. Understanding this emotional labour is no longer an academic exercise, it is essential for the sustainability of school leadership and, by extension, the health of our entire education system."
To view the reports and principals' testimonies, please visit:
- Report One: Technical Overview of the Project
- Report Two: The Emotional Labour of the School Principal
RESEARCHERS
