Survey finds principals are suffering high rates of burnout

Julie Douglas retired at the end of last year after a 42-year career in teaching and a five-year stint as principal of St Bede's Primary School.

Not only did she have to deal with a possible school closure, she led her community through Canberra's two COVID lockdowns.

"I think there's more physical and mental fatigue generally across the teaching profession and in being a principal of a school," she said.

The results from Australian Catholic University's annual survey of principals' health and wellbeing showed school leaders were suffering from the highest burnout rates since the longitudinal study began in 2011.

The 2590 leaders who completed the survey reported working an average of 55.6 hours per week, or more than 11 hours per day.

Principals from South Australia reported significantly higher levels of burnout, stress, sleeping troubles and depressive symptoms compared to other states.

Across Australia, 44 per cent of principals received threats of violence while 39 per cent were subject to physical violence.

One in three school leaders who completed the survey were sent a red flag email, prompting them to get help because of a number of concerning responses.

Australian Catholic University senior lecturer Dr Paul Kidson said layers of stress were compounded for principals who had dealt with three years of rolling crises starting with the black summer bushfires.

"What's surprising is not that they felt stressed about some things, but that they felt strongly committed to the job, high levels of job satisfaction, and high levels of engagement with their community, in a period where it would have been reasonable to think that that might not have been that strong," he said.

Dr Kidson said the transition to and from remote learning greatly added to principals' workload, however there had been increase in administrative burden for several years that must be addressed by policymakers.

"Principals are saying there is just an increasing volume of work that often has tenuous or no connection towards student learning," Dr Kidson said.

"We don't need more research. We don't need more reports. We need change and action, because we've had the same information for a few years."

Mrs Douglas observed a significant increase in administrative tasks during her time as principal.

Parents also tended to frequently contact teachers and principals via email after hours.

"I had a rule that emails were not to be answered after people went home from school and certainly not at night, and that parents were aware that there could be a 24 hour turnaround on answering of emails," she said.

The survey results showed that principals who were younger and less-experienced were suffering the highest levels of burnout, with four in 10 red flag emails going to leaders aged 31- to 40-years-old.

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Association of Heads of Independent Schools of Australia chief executive Beth Blackwood said member principals in their early years of leadership were paired up with retired or experienced school principals to provide guidance.

"They are really demanding years and we find if we can support them through those early years, then the sustainability [of the job] is strengthened," Ms Blackwood said.

She said school leaders had shown collegiality during the challenging times while being the backbone of their communities.

"They've offered families certainty in times of great uncertainty and they've shown leadership in their determination to keep schools open or even if schools have been locked down to ensure that students continue to receive an education.

"I think we should herald the remarkable work of leaders and teachers in our school across the last two years."

Mrs Douglas said a principal's job was more diverse than ever before and that the work was never complete.

"I loved my job until the very end. It was about the camaraderie of colleagues and people in your school, and of course, the students which is the most important [part]," she said.

"I loved the job but I can see why people would feel physically mentally fatigued."

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