![[Navigation Map]](../../../images/maps/study1.gif){kind=small}
from
The School Manager
C Turney, N Hatton , K Laws, K Sinclair and D Smith.
Allen and Unwin 1992
Teacher need, satisfaction and school morale
Administrative practices and morale
Teacher satisfaction and performance
Teacher satisfaction and stress in teaching
SATISFACTION, STRESS AND THE PRINCIPAL
The management of self-needs
The management of time
Management of information and decision making
Management of people
The principal's roles in stress management
Promoting teacher satisfaction and school morale
Morale is a
critical factor influencing the processes and achievements of a
school. Bentley and Rempel (1980, p.2) define morale as 'the
professional interest and enthusiasm that a person displays towards
the achievement of individual and group goals in a given job
situation'. Low morale is associated with frustration, stress,
alienation and powerlessness. High morale is associated with
satisfaction belongingness, achievement and personal and group
esteem. The principal has a key role to play in developing and
enhancing morale. Management associated with high morale is likely to
be participative and supportive, and to occur when motivational and
communication forces are strong, interaction is warm and close,
decision making and goal setting are shared, control processes are
collegial and achievement is emphasised and recognised (Andrew et
al., 1985; Hunter, 1982; Likert, 1967). The major management roles of
the principal in planning, organising, communicating, motivating and
controlling all have important implications for school morale. From
the teachers' point of view, the principal's management of those
roles has a strong bearing on the sense of satisfaction they receive
from teaching and on the amount of stress they experience.
The principal's management skills have a strong bearing on school morale and, in particular, on the sense of satisfaction teachers receive from their work and on the amount of stress they experience.
TEACHER SATISFACTION
Job satisfaction has been considered to be 'a function of the
perceived relationship between what one wants from one's job and what
one perceives it is offering' (Locke, 1969, p.316), and as 'the
degree of "fit" between what an organisation requires of its
employees and what the employees are seeking from the firm' (Mumford,
1972, p. 5). Mumford also identifies several approaches that have
been used in seeking to explain and enhance job satisfaction. Among
them are:
Teacher need, satisfaction and school
morale
Clearly there is a strong relationship between needs
satisfaction and management skills. The possibilities of teacher
satisfaction will be enhanced when management is sensitive to the
interests and needs of the particular staff members and when the
achievement of school goals and individual teacher goals go hand in
hand.
Teacher satisfaction will be enhanced when the achievement of school goals and individual teacher goals go hand in hand.
The human needs approach of Maslow (1970) and Herzberg (1959) has
been particularly influential in shaping current views about business
management and leadership. Maslow conceives of a needs hierarchy with
physiological and safety needs at the base, extending upwards through
belonging needs and self-esteem needs to needs for self-actualisation
at the apex. Self-actualisation involves striving for the fullest
possible realisation of one's potentialities, and an important
context for that is through one's career. Maslow argues, however,
that the person's full energy and attention will be directed towards
self-actualisation, for example in teaching, only when a reasonable
level of satisfaction has been reached with respect to the lower
level needs. Physiological needs are those involved in satisfying
basic bodily wants through the application of good personal health
practices. Safety needs involve finding protection from physical
dangers as well as achieving a sense of psychological security that
comes from living and working in a supportive and predictable
environment. In teaching, for instance, security is enhanced when
clear, reasonable, and consistent expectations are applied to the
behaviour of teachers and students. Belonging needs are expressed by
strivings after acceptance and recognition in the social group.
Self-esteem needs are associated with behaviour designed to
demonstrate capabilities and competencies which will maintain and
enhance positive self-regard, and behaviour designed to avoid failure
that will reduce the level of self-regard.
The needs hierarchy helps explain human behaviour and suggests ways
by which principals may help teachers realise their potentialities.
Strivings for self-actualisation will be enhanced when lower level
needs are satisfied. A well managed school will help satisfy safety
and security needs. Praise, recognition and approval from colleagues
and the principal will help satisfy belonging needs and are also
basic to feelings of self-esteem. Praise, recognition and approval
for accomplishments and competencies help promote confidence, morale
and motivation for further achievements, while criticism, disapproval
and failure to demonstrate competence may lead to negative
self-feelings, detract from motivation for further achievement and
may create the circumstances for alienation and obstructive
behaviour. Encouragement to participate in school decision making and
take responsibility will reinforce feelings of efficacy and
self-worth, and contribute to the self-actualisation of talents and
competencies.
Sergiovanni and Starratt (1979) have emphasised the importance of
understanding the relationship between the phenomena of human needs
and teacher satisfaction. In one study, Sweeney (1981) asked a sample
of 1300 teachers from 23 secondary schools to indicate the extent to
which they desired (ideal) and were receiving (actual) satisfaction
in each of the Maslow categories. The difference between the ideal
and actual satisfaction scores was regarded as a measure of need
deficiency. Need deficiency was greatest for self esteem and
self-actualisation needs, suggesting that 'teachers felt a lack of
prestige and accomplishment in their jobs' (p.3). Need deficiency was
least for belonging needs. There was evidence of need deficiency in
security feelings for younger teachers (age 20-24) but not for older
groups. It was also found that older, more experienced teachers were
more satisfied in their positions than other age groups. Teachers
aged 25-34 were the least satisfied. Older teachers' expectations
were higher than their younger colleagues, but their actual
satisfaction was also higher. Teachers working with high ability
students were more satisfied than those working with low ability
students. There was no difference between the levels of satisfaction
expressed by male and female teachers. Comparison with earlier data
indicated that teacher need deficiencies had risen in the categories
of security needs, self-esteem needs and self actualisation needs,
indicating that teachers felt less worthy and productive than they
had a decade earlier.
Pastor and Erlandson (1982) contrasted high and low level needs in
teachers. High level needs included a desire to be responsible for
their own work and to see the outcomes of their efforts, desire for
challenge, decision-making opportunities, development of skills, a
chance to advance and the opportunity to be creative and innovative.
Low level needs included friendly co-worker and teacher/student
interactions, better pay, adequate vacations and convenient hours.
Fifteen secondary school teachers, randomly chosen from ten school
districts, made up the sample. It was found that the needs of the
teachers were predominantly high order in nature. Job satisfaction
was found to be significantly related to teacher needs, although some
school districts were found to be more satisfying to teachers with
low level needs. For teachers scoring high on need strength, areas of
high satisfaction included seeing student growth, having an influence
on students and having positive teacher/student interactions. Areas
of low satisfaction included adequate pay, administrative efficiency
and unresponsive students. For teachers with low need strength,
satisfaction was derived from seeing student growth, having positive
teacher/student interactions, job variety, and summer vacation.
Dissatisfaction was expressed with reference to discipline, parental
concern and unresponsive students.
From his studies of job satisfaction, Herzberg (1959) argues that the
factors producing job satisfaction are separate and distinct from
those leading to job dissatisfaction and goes on to distinguish
between 'motivators' and 'maintenance factors'. Motivators are
identified as achievement, recognition, intrinsic interest in the
work itself, responsibility and advancement, and provide the bases
for job satisfaction. Maintenance factors such as bureaucratic policy
and attitudes, supervision, interpersonal relations, working
conditions and salary provide the major sources of job
dissatisfaction. Research in the area of education, however, has
tended to find that the distinction between motivation and
maintenance factors is not as clearcut as argued by Herzberg.
Sergiovanni (1969), for instance, replicated Herzberg's study in
educational organisations and found that satisfaction from the work
itself and achievement were not significant as motivator factors. On
the other hand, achievement, recognition and interpersonal
relationships were found to have the potential to contribute to both
satisfaction and dissatisfaction. In another study, Holdaway (1978)
confirmed that the work itself was, almost exclusively, a source of
satisfaction, but that interpersonal relationships were a source of
both satisfaction and dissatisfaction, while physical conditions and
the attitudes of society and parents to education were largely
sources of dissatisfaction.
Following a comprehensive review of the literature, Locke (1976)
concluded that teacher satisfaction tends to be associated with work
that provides a mental challenge, is varied, allows autonomy, is not
physically fatiguing, allows the person to experience success,
provides a fair wage and enables personal needs to be satisfied while
achieving work goals. The importance of personal goals being
satisfied while achieving work goals has been strongly supported.
Lawler (1973, p.158) concluded that job satisfaction will be high
when the job allows the person 'to feel personally responsible for a
meaningful portion of the work, provides outcomes that are
intrinsically meaningful or are otherwise experienced as worthwhile,
and provides feedback about what is accomplished'.
Teacher satisfaction is associated with work that provides a mental challenge, is varied, allows autonomy, is not physically fatiguing, allows the person to experience success, provides a fair wage, and enables personal needs to be satisfied while achieving work goals.
Administrative practices and morale
Principals' administrative practices have also been found to
be related to teacher and school morale. Creed and Enns (1979)
categorised leadership style as either directive (leader decides what
is to be done and how it is to be done), achievement-oriented (leader
expresses clear expectations and standards for performance) or
participative (leader consults before taking action or treats
subordinates as equals in making decisions), and were able to relate
leadership style to extrinsic and intrinsic sources of teacher
satisfaction. Intrinsic satisfaction comes from the enjoyment of
teaching for its own sake and from the achievement of personal goals,
while extrinsic satisfactions come not from teaching itself but from
related outcomes such as power, recognition, material rewards and
achievements. The investigators found that directive leadership was
not related to teacher satisfaction, whether intrinsic or
extrinsic.
Achievement-oriented leadership was strongly related to extrinsic
satisfaction but not intrinsic. Participative leadership was strongly
related to both intrinsic and extrinsic teacher satisfaction.
Participative leadership, it was argued, provides a greater chance
that, in achieving school goals, teachers' personal goals (observed
in intrinsic satisfaction) were also more likely to be realised.
Participative leadership has been found to be one of the most
important factors influencing teacher satisfaction and morale.
Involving teachers in the decision-making process in areas in which
they have expertise can extend the principal's influence by bringing
expanded resources to the planning, implementation and monitoring of
the school program. McLaughlin et al., (1986, p.422) discovered that
'the conditions under which teachers work are often set up in such a
way as to deny teachers a sense of efficacy, success and self-worth'.
They found that teacher frustration and dissatisfaction were commonly
related to:
The results of studies by Rutherford (1985) and Johnson and
Germinario (1985) also confirm the importance of shared decision
making. Rutherford's five-year study of leadership skills of
elementary and secondary principals revealed that in effective
schools participatory decision making creates a joint commitment to
goals and a supportive environment to maximise teacher talent and
effectiveness. When teachers were able to participate in as many
decisions as desired, teacher satisfaction was optimised and job
tension minimised (Belasco & Alutto, 1972). It is also clear that
not all teachers are equally desirous or capable of significant
participation in decision making, and that sometimes decisional
saturation may occur, as when teachers are asked to participate in
more decisions than desired (Belasco & Alutto, 1972). Principals,
while encouraging teacher involvement, must therefore be sensitive to
the needs of particular staff in participative decision making.
Participative leadership has been found to be one of the most important factors influencing teacher satisfaction and morale.
The characteristics of administrative practices in schools with high
morale were also investigated by Andrew et al. (1985), using case
study methodology. Ten school systems were studied by four research
teams. Factors found to be important included:
In the schools with better morale, principals were typically
described as being outgoing, friendly and good organisers. Words such
as ' open ', ' helpful ', ' student-centred ', ' systematic ',
'responsive' and 'fair' were used. In schools with poor morale
principals were perceived as disciplinarians, inconsistent,
nonsupportive, formal and impatient. In the schools with better
morale, teacher contributions were regularly recognised in formal and
informal ways. Principals sought out staff in the corridor or
staffroom to praise them. Teacher accomplishments and contributions
were formally recognised at parent meetings, in newsletters and in
staff meetings. Contrasting with schools with low morale, clearly
written policies about discipline, absenteeism, dress codes and
conduct were also usually found in schools with high morale;
furthermore, those policies had been developed by committees of staff
and students with a strong input from the administration. In the
schools with better morale, principals supported teachers with
instructional materials, clerical help and enforcement of discipline.
Finally, in the schools with good morale, teachers were very much
encouraged to become involved in planning and participating in staff
development programs.
Teacher satisfaction and
performance
Other studies have investigated the relationship between
teacher satisfaction and teacher performance. It has often been
argued that worker satisfaction and productivity (performance) go
hand in hand. Studies of this notion in education, however, have
often failed to find any relationship of substance (Cooper, 1977,
Gorton, 1982; Miskel et al., 1980). Miskel et al., (1980) studied the
relationship of expectancy work motivation, central life interests
and voluntarism to teacher satisfaction and teacher performance.
Expectancy work motivation was associated with teachers' expectations
of successful outcomes in teaching, the importance that they place on
rewards and incentives following from success, and the probability
that rewards and recognition will be received. The measure of central
life interests was concerned with the extent to which the life
interests of teachers focused upon their work. Voluntarism was a
measure of the extent to which teachers felt that they were free to
change positions or jobs if it suited them. The hypothesis that
teacher satisfaction would be related to these three measures was
strongly supported, suggesting that 'anticipation that successful
performance will lead to important outcomes desired by the
individual, perceived freedom to modify the job situation, and work
attachment are necessary for educator job satisfaction' (Miskel et
al. 1980, p.88). The relationship of those variables to teacher
performance presents a problem, however. A satisfied teacher is not
necessarily a well performing one. The result nevertheless has
important implications for school leadership. Leaders need to be
concerned about the quality of life for teachers at school as well as
about their performance. The study suggests that quality of teacher
life (teacher satisfaction) will be related to such factors as
intrinsic and extrinsic expectancy motivation, the perceived freedom
they have to modify and influence the job situation and their
attachment to their job. Teacher performance, on the other hand,
appears to depend on a more complex set of factors than teacher
satisfaction alone.
Teacher satisfaction and stress in
teaching
Another relationship which has been studied is that between
teacher satisfaction and teacher experience of stress, where a
negative relationship would be predicted. Kyriacou and Sutcliffe
(1979) conducted a study with British teachers investigating
relationships between teacher satisfaction, teacher experience of
stress and a number of predicted behavioural correlates of teacher
stress, viz, frequency of absence and intention to leave teaching.
The relationship between teacher satisfaction and teacher stress was
-.27 (p<.01) for the total group and -.34 for teachers aged less
than 30 years. The negative relationship signifies that high teacher
satisfaction was associated with low levels of teacher-reported
stress. The correlation between teacher satisfaction and intention to
leave teaching was .18 (p<.O1). The relationship between teacher
satisfaction and absence was -.32 (p<.05) for teachers aged 45
years or more, but was not significantly correlated for other age
groups. The results indicate a clear relationship between teacher
satisfaction and teacher stress and also suggest that teacher
satisfaction is related, in particular groups of teachers, to
absenteeism and intention to leave teaching. The study also revealed
that 72% of the teachers were very satisfied or fairly satisfied with
teaching and that 23% rated being a teacher a very stressful or
extremely stressful occupation. In relation to sources of stress, low
but significant negative correlations were found between teacher
satisfaction and having noisy pupils, too much work to do,
maintaining values and standards, difficult classes, poor career
structure (which received the highest correlation, -.28) individual
pupils who continually misbehave, an inadequate school disciplinary
policy and inadequate salary. Poor career structure as a source of
stress had the highest correlations with frequency of absence (.16)
and intention to leave teaching (.18).
STRESS IN TEACHING
Writing in 1887 a teacher commented, 'The life of a teacher
in an elementary school is one of continual care and anxiety: the
conditions under which he labours are such that it is impossible for
it to be otherwise . . . [so that] death of idealism, of spontaneity
and humane social relationships [are frequently the result]' (Otto,
p.3.). Similar comments would be made by many teachers today. During
the 1980s in Victoria it has been estimated that around 160 teachers
each year were superannuated on the grounds of ill-health. Their
average age was 44-45 years. One-half to two-thirds of those teachers
were retired early because of psychological ill-health and a further
one-tenth because of stress-related cardiovascular disorder (Otto,
1986).
Stress is a factor that all principals, teachers and students will
have to deal with at some point. Occupational stress occurs in
situations in which '. . . discrepancies exist between occupational
demands and opportunities on the one hand and the worker's
capacities, needs and expectations on the other' (Levi, 1979,
p.26).
Figure 2.1 Stress and performance High I Under stimulation zone
Source Gmelch 1983
Stress is experienced in terms of cognitive, physiological and behavioural reactions (Keavney & Sinclair, 1978; Sinclair et al., 1974). It is experienced:
Given this conceptualisation, stress may be either beneficial or
harmful in its effects. Too little stress or challenge or pressure
can be harmful and lead to so called rustout; too much may also be
harmful and lead to burnout. Gmelch (1983) argues that optimum effect
comes from moderate levels of stress in which pressure and
stimulation are converted into creative motivation. Thus the
relationship between stress and efficiency may be diagrammatically
presented in terms of an inverted U (see Figure 2.1).
Moderate levels of stress may be converted into creative teacher motivation. Too little stress or challenge or pressure, however, can be harmful and lead to so called rustout; too much may also be harmful and lead to burnout.
All teachers and administrators will sometimes experience stress.
If perceived as an alarm reaction (the first of Selye's three
stages), it may cause the mobilisation of resources and the
successful coping with the problem. In terms of Levi's definition
this may entail the modification of internal or external demands so
that they become more reasonable and realistic, or it may entail the
person improving his or her capacities for dealing with the demands
by developing, for instance, new skills or understandings. Similarly,
at the second of Selye's stages (prolonged resistance) it appears
that some people through the use of particular coping styles are able
to deal success fully with stress at a behavioural level over
relatively long periods of time, although at some cost to their
cardiovascular body systems.
Figure 2.2 Framework for thinking about stress
Chronic stress however, may also lead to what has come to be called
burnout with extremely damaging effects on a teacher's or principal's
self-esteem and mental health. According to Jones and Emanuel (1981),
in the early (alarm reaction) stage, it may appear as emerging
feelings of dissatisfaction, isolation and rejection and 'the belief
that personal effort is not appreciated'. In the second stage these
feelings intensify and feelings of self-doubt and helplessness
appear. Once the third of Selye's stages (exhaustion) is reached,
however, adequate coping is no longer a possibility and burnout
occurs. Burnout implies '[mental and physical] exhaustion to the
point of no longer being able to care, of loss of idealism, and of
psychological withdrawal as the last imaginable chance for "survival"
' (Otto, 1986, p.53).
Figure 2.3 Causes of Stress at work
(after Otto, 1986)
Otto (1986) presents a diagrammatic representation of the
relationship between stress and behaviour (see Figures 2.2 an(l 2.3).
Figure 2.2 presents a framework for thinking about stress, and Figure
2.3 the factors to be considered in understanding the causes of
stress at work.
In considering the effects of stress in educational contexts, it
appears important to understand:
Stressors in teaching
Several recent studies have attempted to estimate the
incidence of psychological distress among teachers and principals. In
a major Western Australian study (Louden, 1987), the General Health
Questionnaire (GHQ) was sent to a sample consisting of 20 of the 14
000 government teachers and TAFE lecturers in the state. In all 2138
questionnaires were returned (77% return rate). The results appear in
Table 2.1.
Table 2.1 General health questionnaire scores of Western Australian
teachers
|
|
|
|
|
Primary Teachers |
42% 37% 35% |
18% 16% 16% |
|
General Population |
|
|
Source: Louden, 1987
A score greater than 4 is taken to represent people experiencing
psychological distress; a score greater than 10 represents suffering
severe psychological stress. The proportions found in both categories
are much greater than for the general population. It will also be
observed that differences among the four categories of educational
worker are slight. Differences between respondents based on sex, age,
geographical region, teaching status, subject taught or level of
qualification were also not significant.
In the study, the occupational stressors identified were correlated
with level of worker distress. In Table 2.2 stressors associated with
psychological distress are listed for four categories of education
workers.
Generally speaking the stressors found may be grouped into categories
of unacceptable student behaviour, time pressures, relationships with
colleagues and the community, opportunities for alternative
employment, and working conditions.
Other studies have found much the same groupings of factors. For
instance, after reviewing literature on teacher stress, Fisher (1984)
identified five groupings:
Table- 2 2 Factors associated with psychological distress among
teachers listed alphabetically)
|
Primary teachers |
Secondary teachers Feelings of ineffectiveness and powerlessness |
|
Administrators Perceived community attitudes and expectations |
TAFE lecturers Pressure of acccountability |
Source: Louden 1987
Relationships with pupils and classroom control appear to be of special significance. In a study by Sinclair and Nicoll (1981) student teachers were interviewed about their experiences during a recent teaching practice. A striking result was the amount of feeling invested in their experiences. When asked for their overall impression it was commonly expressed in feeling terms:
As in other studies, it was the reaction of the students which was the primary concern. 'Successful' lessons were described as follows:
When the students did not respond, teacher resentment and anger were
commonly the result:
The experience of these student teachers may be mirrored in the
experiences of many practising teachers; when it is, those teachers
will experience high levels of occupational stress.
Common sources of teacher stress are student-teacher relationships, time pressures, role conflict, colleague relationships and community attitudes. Of these, relationships with pupils and classroom control are of particular importance.
The high levels of stress described in this study and in the Louden
study are a cause for considerable concern. It is well documented
that people in distress will grasp for coping behaviours that are
primarily designed to ease their own feelings of distress even if the
behaviours are not in the interests of those with whom they are
interacting. In studies with student and beginning teachers
(Sinclair, 1981) there was evidence that, in coping. the teachers
progressively adopted more and more authoritarian control techniques.
While adopting custodial and authoritarian behaviours is helpful to
the teacher in attempting to gain a greater sense of personal control
over the teaching situation, it is not necessarily in the best
personal or learning interests of the students. Furthermore, it often
only exacerbates the problem of teacher-student relationships so that
it is not ultimately effective in reducing stress or anxiety. In
another study (Sinclair & Ryan, 1987), high teacher anxiety was
found to reduce teaching effectiveness. Scores on a measure of
teacher state anxiety taken immediately before a lesson were found to
be negatively correlated with student perception of lesson
organisation (-.57), teacher responsiveness (-.28), teacher affect
(-.56) and teacher confidence (-.83) during the lesson. Student
experience of anxiety during the lesson was also found to be
correlated with the level of teacher anxiety during the lesson.
In a very insightful early paper, Jules Henry (1966) speaks of
vulnerability in education. In hierarchically organised systems of
education such as in Australia, evaluation and blame are directed in
a top-down manner. Principals are vulnerable to criticism from their
superiors and the anxiety generated leads them to capitalise on the
vulnerability of teachers who in attempting to deal with their own
anxieties, capitalise on the vulnerability of the students.
Considerable anxiety and stress may be generated in this way,
undermining both teacher and student morale.
When teacher stress is experienced as anxiety, reduced teaching effectiveness and student performance are the likely outcomes.
How teachers cope
with stress
Much less has been written about coping with the stress response than
about the nature of stressors. Iwanicki (1983) begins by categorising
the sources of teacher distress as societal (community pressures of a
social and political kind), organisational (pressures resulting from
organisational weaknesses and failures at the system and school
level), and role-related (pressures associated with the teaching role
itself), and recognises that these three are interrelated and
cumulative. He then goes on to discuss procedures for alleviating or
coping with them. Sparks (1983) also discusses a number of strategies
which may be used to manage teacher stress. Physical exercise and
good health practices may be supplemented by relaxation techniques.
Distress-producing thoughts may be brought under control so that they
are viewed in a more objective and realistic manner. Negative
messages about self and self-criticism may be counterbalanced by
focusing on successes and strengths. Professional support groups may
be formed to help teachers learn together and support one another in
their ongoing professional development. When organisational patterns
generate stress, open communication channels and shared decision
making may help find better alternatives. If teachers face problems
because their training did not adequately prepare them, a
comprehensive staff development program will assist. Finally, if
distress is caused by an inappropriate person job fit, assistance in
making a career change may be the only reasonable response.
SATISFACTION,
STRESS AND THE PRINCIPAL
Principals and other school managers also strive after job
satisfaction and are subject to stress experiences in their work.
Furthermore, their experiences of satisfaction and stress have
important consequences for the morale and effectiveness of the school
organisation. Low job satisfaction and high levels of stress on their
part will interfere with their effectiveness and through that
undermine the effectiveness and morale of the teachers and students.
As with teachers, increasing demands placed on school administrators
over the last several decades have increased the amount of stress
experienced. In Australia, new participatory arrangements in
schooling (emanating from such government reports as that of the
Scott Committee in New South Wales) suggest that administrators will
be under increasing pressure as their leadership roles change.
Simpkins (1980) anticipated this some time ago; the pressures for
change are presented diagrammatically in Figure 2.4.
The principal's role involves ongoing and dynamic interaction between
the principal and the work situation. Adaptive behaviour on the
principal's part involves finding a satisfactory balance or 'fit'
between his or her own needs and resources and external demands and
constraints. Stress is experienced when there is a serious and
persistent 'lack of fit'.
If the principal is working under excessive stress so that his or her management effectiveness is undermined, it is likely that teachers and students will experience heightened levels of stress with damaging effects on their performance and on school morale.
From this viewpoint, stress results when external demands and
constraints overwhelm the principal's personal needs and resources.
Stress may be reduced by modifying and adjusting internal needs and
resources to make them more adaptive, and/or by finding ways to
reduce the potency of external demands and constraints.
Administrator stress results when external demands and constraints overwhelm the personal needs and resources of the administrator.
Figure 2 4 Devolution and school principal
Stress may be experienced by principals in a wide range of situations
and contexts. For example, stress may be experienced when:
Sources of stress for school principals have been investigated in a
number of studies. In a Western Australian study (Savery &
Detiuk, 1985), the principals of all high schools and large primary
schools received a questionnaire for which there was an 80% return
rate. Perceived work-related stress was found to be a 'major problem'
Nearly one-third of the sample had been diagnosed as suffering from
high blood pressure in the previous twelve months, and nearly half of
the principals who perceived the stress under which they worked as
excessive had been so diagnosed. It was also notable that only 18% of
the principals had a managerial qualification, such as in educational
administration. Specific stressors were identified related to role
ambiguity, autonomy, decision making, role overload and role
conflict. Role overload and role conflict appeared to be the most
serious stressors.
In an American study involving a random sample of 400 principals
(Williamson & Campbell, 1987), stress factors in educational
administration were found to be related to the management of time,
relations with superiors, relationships with subordinates and matters
of finance. In another American study (Friesen et al., 1983) data
were gathered about both satisfactions and dissatisfactions of
principals. Greatest satisfaction came from interpersonal
relationships, a sense of achievement, responsibility and autonomy.
Student attitudes and performance, job challenge, recognition and
status, and job importance were a secondary source of satisfaction.
Job dissatisfaction was associated with administration and policies,
amount of work, constraints, attitudes of society, physical
facilities, stress and impact on home life.
Swent (1983) studied the techniques that a sample of 1245 principals
had personally found useful in combating stress. He identifies three
main categories of stress reduction activity. The physiological
activities category includes physical exercise, relaxation and
meditation. The cognitive and psychological activities category
includes separating work from home, separating themselves from work
(e.g. hobbies, travel), social activities and religious beliefs.
Activities involving the use of interpersonal and organisational
skills include time management, conflict resolution, team management
and communication channelling.
From these and other studies it appears that the management of
self-needs, the management of time, the management of decision
making, and the management of people have particular relevance for
understanding administrative stress.
The management of
self-needs
Maslow's theory (1970) suggests that when high levels of
stress are experienced, many of the needs subordinate to
self-actualisation are likely to be unsatisfied. Basic physiological
processes will be disrupted as the principal experiences emotional
tension, physical tiredness and psychosomatic disorders such as
headaches, high blood pressure and respiratory problems.
Relationships with staff and students may become strained, leading to
the withdrawal of the principal from interpersonal situations and to
the breakdown of communication. The threat of failure and loss of
self-esteem may come to dominate thinking and action, leading to
procrastination and to decisions made more in the interests of
avoiding failure than in reaching new heights of educational
achievement.
In any programme of stress management for school principals it will
be important to help them develop skills in their own management of
self-needs. Among the skills and practices that may be used are good
health practices (such as relaxation techniques, regular exercise and
good nutrition), techniques for sustaining positive self-esteem and
the development of interpersonal skills.
In addition to the satisfaction of personal needs, the other main
factor contributing to stress is the extent to which the principal
has management skills that may effectively cope with the demands of
the work environment. In subsequent chapters, the skills required for
the management of information, for the making of decisions and the
solving of problems, for the management of people and for effective
communication will be discussed. When those skills are not
sufficiently well developed to cope with administrative demands, so
that the school environment becomes unstable, stress in the
principal, as well as in other teachers and students, is a likely
result.
For the principal, stress management requires the development of skills in the management of self-needs and management skills in coping effectively with the work environment.
The management of
time
Time pressures are one of the most commonly reported sources
of stress. Time pressures include being frequently interrupted by
telephone calls and staff members, having to participate in school
activities outside of normal working hours, a work load that cannot
be finished in a normal working day, coping with long meetings and
having to meet paperwork deadlines. Principals need to develop skills
in dealing with such time constraints--skills in establishing
priorities, delegating responsibilities, controlling appointments and
meetings, and the effective use of a diary or planner. All these may
be learned and will give the principal more control over this
important source of stress.
Management of information and decision
making
A characteristic of modern society is that greater and
greater amounts of information are having to be processed in shorter
and shorter amounts of time. This is as true for the school
administrator as it is for other professionals. It is also an
important source of stress. Control of the work environment requires
ready access to all relevant information about students, staff, the
school community, the curriculum, latest thinking about the teaching
and learning process, strategies for staff development and
supervision, policies and pronouncements of the Department of
Education and so on. Without effective information handling skills
the principal will soon be overwhelmed by the sheer amount of
information that needs to be considered. In the course of the school
year the principal will need to make thousands of decisions and solve
thousands of problems, all of which will depend, in important ways,
upon the availability of relevant information. Many of those
decisions and problem solutions will vitally affect the lives of
others, staff and students alike. Having to make decisions that
affect the lives of other people was one of the top three stressors
identified by a sample of school principals in the United States
(Brimm, 1983).
Heightened levels of stress will have a disruptive effect on the
principal's capacity to handle information and make decisions. Stress
and anxiety make people self-preoccupied; much of their energy and
attention is directed inward, to the consequences of action for their
own self-feelings, so that less energy and attention are available
for rational decision making. As already discussed, the principal
experiencing high levels of stress and anxiety will commonly
procrastinate in making decisions or may avoid making decisions
altogether. When decisions are made they may reflect more the
principal's need to avoid being seen as a failure than his or her
judgment as to what is in the best interest of the student, staff
member or school. Above all else, the decision needs to be a safe
one, safe from the point of view of the principal.
Skills in establishing priorities and being decisive, in assessing
payoff and risks, in making hard decisions and facing unpleasant
situations are important skills for the principal. Moreover, in
coping with the information needed in such decision making, the
development of information handling skills and skills in the use of
information technologies such as computers is essential.
Management of people
Handling interpersonal relationships was another common
source of stress for American principals (Brimm, 1983). Stress was
found to be associated with supervising and coordinating the tasks of
many people, making decisions that affected the lives of other
people, trying to resolve parent-school conflicts, handling student
discipline problems, and trying to resolve differences among staff
members. Relationships with superiors were also found to be a common
source of stress. Here role conflicts and role ambiguities were of
particular importance. In handling such stress a carefully thought
out school management plan will be important, as will be the
development of communication skills, conflict resolution strategies,
and strategies for delegating authority and specifying role
responsibilities.
The principal's roles in stress
management
The principal's responsibilities in stress management apply
both to stress control in their own work role and to the creation of
conditions that will alleviate high levels of stress in teachers and
students. As has been argued, if the principal is working under
excessive stress his or her management effectiveness is undermined,
it is likely that teachers and students will experience heightened
levels of stress with damaging effects on their performance and
school morale. Personal stress control for the principal is therefore
of the utmost importance.
Promoting teacher satisfaction and school
morale
The studies reviewed above indicate that teacher
satisfaction is an important element influencing school morale, and
that school goals and individual teacher goals go hand in hand.
Management associated with high morale is likely to be participative
and supportive, and to occur when motivational and communication
forces are strong, interaction is warm and agreeable, decision making
and goal setting are shared, control processes are collegial, and
achievement is emphasised and recognised. The major management roles
of the principal in planning, organising, communicating, motivating
and controlling, therefore, all have important implications for
school morale.
It has also been observed that teacher satisfaction is undermined by
stress in teaching. Today people live in an increasingly stressful
society and the public school, as Williamson and Campbell (1987,
p.lO9) put it, 'is a virtual "hotbed" of stress'. Teaching is an
increasingly demanding and stressful occupation, making the
principal's management of stress in the school an extremely important
undertaking. The challenge is for the principal to help create
conditions through which staff and students may obtain satisfaction
from their work while keeping the level of stress under reasonable
control.
