Relationships - it’s a word we hear used a lot when it comes to helping children do well in school.

It turns out it is also key for helping headteachers manage stress and perform well in their job, both in the UK and in international schools.

This is one of the key insights taken from a dissertation I recently completed investigating headteacher wellbeing.

I carried out this research having served as a headteacher both in England and internationally. I had been struck by the fact that, for all the good and well-meaning conversations about wellbeing and leadership, what this actually looked like in reality was somewhat unknown.

So I set about delving into what headteachers saw as the sources of stress in their job and what they did to offset these issues to help inform a better understanding of how to avoid issues of burnout or mental unhappiness that can cause serious harm, both for individuals and school communities.

To do this, I interviewed 15 headteachers based in both the UK and working internationally. The interviews were the central feature of the dissertation, but the headteachers I interviewed also completed a questionnaire to help place the subsequent interviews in context.

Sources of negative stress

So what were the key insights? Let’s start with the sources of stress on leaders. From the interviews it became clear there were four major areas of stress, that, in order of impact, are:

• Accountability, with inspection being a key aspect;
• Staff;
• Parents;
• The Local Authority, Governors, or School Improvement Partner.

Perhaps it is no surprise inspections came out top - it is an issue we are seeing dominate the headlines right now around Ofsted. 

Interestingly, one issue that came through in the research was the emotional elements for headteachers in terms of the “shielding and protection” of staff from inspections - alongside the professional concerns around high expectations of performance during inspections.

Headteachers wanted their school to do well in inspection, but they also did not want their staff to be emotionally damaged. It is a noble aim but it is clear it can cause even more stress for leaders at a time that is already fraught with worry.

This issue somewhat linked in as well with the fourth point - especially around a lack of consistency by governments related to the notion that schools were “political footballs”.

How international schools promote staff wellbeing:

• Wellbeing Around the World: Community spirit in New York
• Wellbeing Around the World: Creating a ‘youniversity’ in Italy
• Wellbeing Around the World: Acting with PAWsitivity in Malaysia

This is especially troublesome when the relationship between the headteacher and the Local Authority representative or School Improvement Partner was seen as a negative one.

In general, headteachers welcomed constructive criticism, but target-setting, if it was perceived to be in the context of a poor relationship, could be a major source of stress.

The second most referred to source of stress was staff. One headteacher commented that “20 per cent of your staff take up 80 per cent of your time. It’s usually the same people again and again”.

Another headteacher commented that a member of staff had felt that the head was angry with her, which was not true. This had happened because, whenever the headteacher had walked by the staff member, she appeared to have a cross face.

The headteacher resolved to make a point of smiling more in public. This example reinforces the point that many headteachers feel pressure to “wear a professional mask” whenever they are around their school.  

The issue of a relatively small number of people causing a disproportionate degree of stress was also an issue when parents, the third most significant source of stress, were referred to.

The impact of social media in spreading news and opinion was not insignificant either - something the recent unpleasant TikTok trend of posting videos of teachers has underlined starkly.

Sources of positive wellbeing

On the more positive side though, the study was keen to listen to what headteachers felt they could do for themselves about their own wellbeing. The four most popular actions were:

• The involvement of others within the school team;
• Time away from the job;
• The creation of physical and temporal boundaries;
• The development of a sense of “self”.

Time away from the job was a key factor. This could involve a variety of activities, such as physical exercise. One headteacher asserted that going for a run had the dual function of freeing her mind from the stresses of the job, while simultaneously enabling her to think creatively, often about her work.

Self-imposed boundaries were also a key point, so headteachers made sure they “left” their work at work and were off the clock after a certain time at night.

Both time away from the job and the creation of boundaries, leading to greater command of one’s personal life, introduced for headteachers a greater sense of control so that, whatever the pressures, they had established times or places where there was a barrier between themselves as working professionals and themselves as human beings.

To ensure that this “me time” was as stress-free as possible, headteachers also spoke about the importance of being self-aware, which enabled them to anticipate the trigger points for negative stress.

Beyond what headteachers could do for themselves, there was an analysis of what could be done for headteachers by others. The four main sources of support for headteachers that were external to themselves but within the education system were:

• Support and interaction with colleague headteachers;
• Support from the School Leadership Team and the staff;
• Support from a senior figure from the Local Authority or private company;
• Access to a coach or mentor.

Interestingly, all four sources of support were related to the building of professional relationships with others; these relationships could be hierarchical, non-hierarchical or simply enabling. The key issue was that, whatever the nature of the relationships, they were built on trust and honesty.

The term ‘streth’:

What was notable about this element of the study was the recognition that members of staff could be both a source of potential stress (referred to by ten headteachers) as well as a source of invaluable support (referred to by nine headteachers).

This led to the invention of the term “streth” by the study - a portmanteau of the words “strength” and “stress”.

This refers to any element in a person’s life that can function as both a source of strength and a source of stress. This was recognised by one headteacher who referred to members of staff as either “energy providers” or “energy sappers”.

Although the study did not reach a firm conclusion in terms of leadership style and wellbeing, there was a clear understanding of the importance of reciprocity in relationship building.

One headteacher commented that social and emotional literacy was central in the recruitment of staff too, to ensure the employment of people with similar mindsets.

Recommendations

So what does all this mean for the real action leaders can take in order to improve their wellbeing? My study makes three main recommendations.

First, all headteachers should have access to a coach, mentor or counsellor, with the protocols of that relationship being established at the outset.

Second, there should be the proactive development of headteacher networks to help leaders support and learn from one another. This could easily cross over with the first recommendation too.

Third, there should be headteacher training regarding wellbeing. This training will include three major elements: understanding and managing the self, understanding and managing others, and discussions with fellow headteachers relating to a range of work-related issues.

There are currently programmes for headteachers, but these need to be further expanded.

Ultimately, as wellbeing continues to rise up the agenda, the hope is more staff at all stages of their career are given the tools and know-how to help manage their wellbeing and operate as effectively as possible throughout their time in education - whether in the classroom or as a school leader.

Chris McDermott is a former headteacher who worked in both the UK and internationally