The well-being of the head of school in a time of change

Abstract

This is a case study that depicts a profile of the subjective well-being of a community of heads of school in one State college in Malta, who claimed to be happy and fulfilled in their role, but who have registered high levels of emotional exhaustion, and narrated experiences that sustain that data. School leaders are the backbone of their school, and their optimal functioning and well-being is essential for the running of the school. This research has shown that school leaders’ well-being has a direct impact on the well-being of the whole school community. For the past decade, the Maltese educational system has been facing relentless reform. This study shows how, aside from the burdens of modern leadership that has seen an amplification of the school leadership role, this reform has put heads of school at the helm of an unprecedented change process, with limited support and training. The case study methodology, using a mixed-methods approach, was used for this study. During the qualitative phase, interviews were conducted with four heads of school, namely two primary heads and the heads of the middle and secondary school within one State school college. During the quantitative phase, the Maslach Burnout Inventory – Educators Survey (MBI-ES) was administered to the entire head of school population in the college. The quantitative data was correlated with data derived from a thematic analysis of the interviews. This analysis corroborated data derived from the MBI-ES, which showed that the heads of school registered high levels of stress, but also a high level of personal accomplishment and a low level of depersonalisation. The cumulative data demonstrates how high levels of stress might be disguised by the school leaders’ enthusiasm and level of engagement. The study sheds light not only on characteristics that pertain to school leadership in one particular college, but also on structural dynamics that pertain to the Maltese educational system at large, and that run deeper than the role of the head of school.