Primary school principals feel ‘stressed and unsupported’
SIX out of ten primary and post-primary school principals claim their job is ‘very stressful’, with a sizeable minority saying they feel inadequately supported in their work, according to a new report.
The study by the Education Research Centre found the issue of stress levels was even more pronounced among principals of schools in disadvantaged areas.
It revealed that 86% of principals of DEIS schools compared to 52% in non-DEIS schools reported finding their job very stressful.
A similar high rate of stress was recorded among principals of special schools.
However, the survey of almost 1,000 principals and teachers found teachers were less likely to indicate that their role was very stressful.
One-fifth of primary teachers, one third of post-primary teachers and two-fifths of teachers in special schools reported high stress levels.
In another finding, over a third of primary school principals said they felt ‘not very’ or ‘not at all’ supported in their role, while one-fifth of secondary school principals reported the same lack of support.
The figure was even higher among principals of special schools at 60%.
While a majority of both principals and teachers reported being very satisfied with their job, more than one in ten primary school principals indicated dissatisfaction with their role.
On challenges faced by teaching staff, 47% of postprimary principals claimed student absenteeism was a moderate or serious problem in their school. Among primary school principals, almost a third highlighted aggression and bullying as a problem.
In relation to issues within school communities, a third of primary and post-primary principals claimed unemployment posed a challenge.
Among special school principals, drug and alcohol abuse was seen as the biggest challenge in the community, with about one-third of principals indicating it represented a serious or moderate challenge. Education Minister Norma Foley said the report would help the Government to meet its commitment to reviewing the provision, content and delivery of teacher education and development.
She said the work would ensure professional learning opportunities provided to teachers would meet their needs, the needs of their school ‘and most importantly, the needs of their students’.
‘It has been an enormously challenging 18 months for school communities, in which everyone has adapted and shown great resilience. Important lessons have been learned, and I have no doubt that these will inform the ongoing development of the framework in the coming phases,’ said Ms Foley.
The survey was carried out last year as part of a major study commissioned by the Department of Education to develop a framework for the evaluation of teachers’ professional learning. It also examined the views of teaching staff on students’ wellbeing and to assess their learning needs in that area.
More than a quarter of all those surveyed said they had spent more than three hours in the previous week on tasks related to student wellbeing, with the figure increasing to three-quarters for postprimary principals.
The study noted that it was ‘difficult to determine if that was a typical investment of time or an increased investment arising from Covid-19 related school closures’.
The availability of student teachers was identified as a key issue in relation to staff being able to engage in additional training.
Changes to the curriculum were named as one of the major reasons for the ongoing need for teaching training.
A large majority of those surveyed agreed that professional development activities helped them to develop new approaches and that students benefited from that.
However, many claimed lack of time was a key barrier to implementing new approaches to teaching and learning.
‘A challenging 18 months’ ‘Lessons have been learned’