IEU says action is needed or there could be an ‘exodus’ of principals

Australian Catholic University’s annual Australian Principal Occupational Health, Safety and Wellbeing Survey usually makes for sobering reading, but this year’s edition, released in March, was shocking.

There were eye-watering statistics about violence against Principals – nearly half (48%) of Australia’s school principals reported being physically attacked in 2023 – a 78% increase on the first survey in 2011. And, once again, like teachers, principals are being exhausted by heavy workloads, lack of time to focus on teaching and learning, and the burden of increasing mental health issues amongst students and staff.

While those numbers have been alarming for a long time, this year, there was more.

Writing for The Conversation, the survey authors didn’t mince words: “The challenge from this year’s report is stark and immediate: an exodus is potentially on the horizon”.

The survey shows more than half of school principals intend to quit or retire early. Experienced school leaders, with over 15 years of service, most want to leave.

“We cannot assume resilience levels will continue to hold up. The signs are unambiguous. If these school leaders really do quit, they will take years of experience with them and cripple the ability of Australian schools to realise their aspirations.”

Mid-career leaders are also turning their backs on becoming principals, with almost 60 per cent of those with six to 10 years’ experience wanting to leave the profession.

“Assuming only half of those who agreed or strongly agreed to quit acted on this response, there would be an exodus of more than 500 school leaders – the data strongly suggests this would be experienced school leaders,” said educational psychologist and co-lead investigator Professor Herb Marsh.

Andy Mison, President / Executive Director of the Australian Secondary Principal’s Association (ASPA), said “If we don't act now to better support them, many will follow through on their intention to leave, with devastating consequences for our schools. We must support and retain talented leaders to guide our schools.”

In response to the survey, the Education Minister Jason Clare added principal retention and attraction to the agenda for April’s Education Ministers Meeting.

Stress and violence are two of the reasons for the potential principal shortage. The survey revealed than another is cyberbullying. The survey revealed 35 per cent of the 2300 principals and deputy principals participating had been subjected to cyberbullying, up from 29 per cent in 2020.

And 88.5 per cent of cyberbullying incidents involved parents.

Dr Paul Kidson, ACU chief investigator and a former school principal, told EducationHQ that threats of violence, gossip and slander and cyberbullying are creating “an unhealthy relationship between families and the school, and manifesting across those (areas)”.

Dr Kidson said, “Car park scuttlebutt is all too easily inflamed in the online sphere, and… social media giants are not being held to account for what is unfolding on their platforms”.

“Once the power of social media is enabled, it’s hard to control. You can’t fight against that in the same way that you can (face to face).”

Solutions

Combatting Violence

Dr Kidson recommends to end violence and bullying against school leaders, Education Departments may need to ban violent or abusive parents from school grounds and prohibit them from contacting principals.

He cites Victoria’s Community Safety Orders, enacted in 2021, as an example of a successful measure. It authorises principals to “stop or limit parents, carers and other adults who behave in harmful, threatening, or abusive ways”, including limiting their physical presence on campus.

“The sad reality… is an increasing number of parents, caregivers and their children are not taking their obligations and responsibilities seriously enough," Dr Kidson told The Educator.

“They treat teachers and principals in ways that we do not accept in any other type of work environment, and it just defies imagination that we are still experiencing this problem at the scale we are.”

Dr Kidson said it was a pity banning parents from school grounds and from contacting leaders and teachers can be necessary, but it is effective.

Since Victoria’s Community Safety Orders came into effect in 2021, violence and threats of it have been lower there compared to every other State and Territory.

Dr Kidson called for action, not just words.

“Otherwise, you end up doubling down on the frustration because the principals then say, well, we were consulted about it, and it's making a difference, so why hasn’t there been any action?” he said.

“So, there needs to be more than just ‘thoughts and prayers’, because we don’t want for those principals who are terrific servants of the nation to feel that they're being treated in a platitudinous way and just getting a pat on the head.”

Principal wellbeing and retention

ASPA is proposing a sixth priority area to be added to the National Teacher Workforce Action Plan: “Retain and Sustain our Principals”. The proposed measures include ongoing monitoring of principals' health and wellbeing; a review of workloads and administrative responsibilities; and an investment in the administrative staff and systems in Australia’s schools.

Other key proposals include greater powers for principals to respond to violence and unsafe behaviour; tailored training and development programs; appropriate remuneration frameworks that reflect the complexity of the role; and quarantining funds from other agencies such as Health and Community Services to support school communities.

School wellbeing expert Associate Professor Theresa Dicke called for a national summit which coordinates strategies and resources to focus on issues affecting principals.

“Otherwise, many of them will act on their intention to leave and it will make achieving important policy initiatives very unlikely.”

Key survey recommendations

• Calling on the Education Ministers Meeting and sectoral leaders in all states and territories to prioritise support for school leaders

• Empowering school leaders with decision-making autonomy and providing dedicated resources for reducing unnecessary tasks, building on concerns highlighted by the Productivity Commission

• Addressing inappropriate behaviour from parents/caregivers to maintain a safe and conducive learning environment. The Victorian School Community Safety Order stands as an example of a mechanism that can be reviewed and refined for better outcomes.