Social-Emotional Support for Novice Principals: How Mentoring Can Promote Self-Care

• In Event: Leading, Learning, and Caring: Well-Being and the School Leader

Abstract

Objectives
This paper explores how mentoring can support principals in self-care and handling job-related stress utilizing a qualitative research design with early career principals (0-5 years) who serve schools in varying contexts and who have an established mentor.
Perspectives
Although serving as a principal is a rewarding career, the principalship is a multifaceted, and often stressful position. Being a principal in the 21stcentury requires complex responsibilities that focus on improving student learning and academic performance and supervising and supporting teachers in effective teaching and learning practices (Lynch, 2012). State and federal policies are increasingly holding principals accountable for student growth, closing performance gaps, decreasing drop-out rates, and increasing college and career readiness for all students (Davis & Darling-Hammond, 2012). Consequently, the pressure on school principals to increase student outcomes has increased (Markow, Macia, & Lee, 2013). Because of the rising pressure in school accountability, principals have reported increased levels of work-related stress, and many principals neglect the importance of self-care. Beausaert et al. (2016) found that social support, specifically support from colleagues, decreases stress and burnout in school principals. Since the only people who understand the stressors of being a principal are other principals, it stands to reason that mentoring can be a way to meet the social-emotional needs of principals.
Methods
I used a qualitative research design to answer the single research question guiding this study: How can mentoring support principals in self-care and handling job-related stress? The participants for the study are early career principals (0-5 years) who serve schools in varying contexts and who have an established mentor. Data collection included participant interviews and document analysis of mentoring journals. Analysis consisted of open coding, a process whereby each sentence in the transcript was reviewed and assigned a meaning relative to the research question (Maxwell, 2013). Relationships between codes or clusters of codes suggested larger themes.
Findings
Findings suggest that a strong mentoring relationship can support a novice principal in developing self-care skills by reducing stress and focusing on work-life balance. Key themes include: (a) the role of the mentor in supporting the novice principal in self-care; (b) mentoring activities focused on self-care; and (c) building mentee’s capacity in developing self-care skills. Participants reported that their mentors helped them find ways to reduce job-related stress through mindfulness and reflection, and they also explained how their helped them with work-life balance.
Significance
Prior researchers have established the importance of mentoring in indoctrinating a novice principal into the profession. The focus in early studies on mentoring was on skill attainment for novice principals, specifically on how a veteran principal (mentor) supports a novice principal (mentee) in acquiring the needed managerial skills to gain confidence in managing the school (Daresh, 2007). The role of the principal has evolved in its complexity and responsibility; consequently, mentoring principals should evolve past managerial skill attainment to include social-emotional support. Through this study I expand on current mentoring research to include how mentoring can support principals in attaining self-care skills to support work-life balance.

Author

• Sonya Diana Hayes, The University of Tennessee - Knoxville