Causes of Stress and Strategies for Managing Stress Among German and U.S. Principals

• In Event: Marriott Roundtable Session 30
  In Roundtable Session: Investigating the Principalship: The Nature and Consequences of Daily Practices

Abstract

The school principal impacts student achievement at a level second only to that of the classroom teacher. The United States and Germany are experiencing challenges in recruiting and retaining individuals for the principalship and the shortage is expected to intensify. Previous research has shown that increasing paperwork and responsibilities serve as inhibitors to entering the profession and that school principals are increasingly stressed by a wide range of responsibilities and a shrinking pool of resources. This stress causes physiological and professional difficulties that have a detrimental impact on school function and culture. The present study seeks to identify the major causes of stress, strategies for mitigating stress, and limitations of stress management among principals in the United States and Germany.

Authors

• Dawson R. Hancock, University of North Carolina - Charlotte

• Ulrich Müller, Pädagogische Hochschule Ludwigsburg, University of Education

• Tobias Bernd Stricker, Pädagogische Hochschule Ludwigsburg, Institut für Bildungsmanagement

• Chuang Wang, University of Macau

• Sherry Lee

• Jeremy Hachen