Promoting Principal Well-Being and Effective Leadership Through Soul of Leadership Program

• In Event: Bolstering Social-Emotional Competencies Toward Promoting Educator Well-Being

Abstract

Objectives. In order to lead and thrive, principals need time and support to develop their social emotional competencies (SEC) to manage job-related stress, build trust, and model caring and culturally responsive behaviors. They need to utilize strategies and develop skills that enable them to interact with others consciously, with full awareness of how their actions impact themselves, others, and their environments. Thus, this study explores a) how principals experience Soul of Leadership: Courage, Presence, & Integrity (SoL)—a professional development program based on cultivating leader SEC and b) the influence of SoL on their wellbeing and leadership.

Theoretical Frameworks. This research study is informed by two theoretical frameworks: the theory of transformative learning (Mezirow, 1991) that shows how adult experiences are conceptualized as having the power to both transform one’s perspectives and assumptions and change one’s behavior; the prosocial school leader model (Mahfouz et al., 2018) illustrates how cultivating the principals’ SEC promotes a positive school environment, which in turn influences social, emotional, and academic outcomes for teachers and students.

Methods. The SoL program included four 2-hour & 15 minute whole group sessions and three 90 minute small group sessions that were spread from January to June and facilitated by co-developers of the program. The cohort included 43 participants divided into two groups (cohort 3A, n=23; cohort 3B, n=20) from Massachusetts school districts. The complete corpus of data collected includes: (a) participant evaluation surveys about SoL program completed at the end of the 8 whole group sessions with 43 participants; (b) 18 audio-recorded pre- and post- interviews with 18 participants, transcribed verbatim in their entirety and analyzed utilizing thematic coding; & (c) baseline and post self-report surveys conducted before the start of the program and at the completion of the program that included the following scales: Five Facets of Mindfulness Questionnaire (Baer et al., 2008), Maslach Burnout Inventory (Maslach et al., 1997), & Psychological Capital Questionnaire (Ruderman & Clerkin, 2015) using quasi-experimental research design for analysis.

Preliminary Results. A majority reported that they were highly satisfied (66.8%) or satisfied (30%) with the overall program. The interviews portrayed dedicated leaders extremely committed to their mission of serving students yet taxed with a job that was stressful, draining, and detrimental to work-life balance. Leaders described the unique nature of their roles and their decision-making amidst competing demands that never left everyone happy. They were grateful for like-minded partners and found collaboration and time with students rewarding. As for the pre-post surveys, three of the subscales (hope, optimism, and exhaustion) had statistically significant improvements between the pre and post-test. The largest changes occurred on the psychological capital inventory with hope and optimism both having an increase of around 10%. The exhaustion scale also decreased by a similar magnitude of around 10%.

Significance. This research could help identify specific new professional development practices for school leaders and inform the development of professional development programs that promote effective school leadership.

Authors

• Danny Yahya, University College London
  Presenting Author

• Julia Mahfouz, University of Colorado - Denver
  Presenting Author

• Kathleen B. King, North Central College
  Non-Presenting Author

• Stephen Kotok, St. John's University
  Non-Presenting Author