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It’s an understatement to say the pandemic has been stressful for everyone. This new research from the Rand Corp points out some very interesting findings (see below). Steve and Stan discuss these findings using a restorative lens.
Restorative practice suggestions:
- Restorative practices offers the HOWTO of building and maintaining relationships in the stress filled pandemic.
- Be intentional about talking with principals regarding their stressors.
- Look for inequities in the structures and provide more support for those principals disadvantaged by gender, race or socioeconomics.
Key Findings of Rand Research Report
- Four out of five secondary principals experienced frequent job-related stress during the 2020–2021 school year.
- Secondary principals of color, female principals, principals serving high-poverty schools, and principals serving schools with high enrollment of students of color were especially likely to experience constant job-related stress.
- Secondary principals’ top job-related stressors included supporting teachers’ well-being and students’ social and emotional learning, as well as navigating pandemic-related challenges.
- Secondary principals whose schools provided fully remote instruction were more likely to experience constant job-related stress than principals whose schools provided hybrid or in-person instruction; sources of job-related stressors varied by mode of instruction.
Recommendations of Rand Research Report
- Support the well-being and mental health of principals, especially principals from historically marginalized groups and principals who lead schools with large proportions of students of color and students living in poverty.
- Help principals support and improve teachers’ and students’ well-being.
- Provide guidance and resources to help principals manage the operational aspects of their jobs.
Read the full Rand Research Report The Well-Being of Secondary School Principals One Year into the COVID-19 pandemic
Visit CircleForum for more information about the HOWTO asking questions about well-being .
Free practical tools and restorative resources for teachers on restorative.ca
Order Steve’s book The Restorative Principal Leading in Education with Restorative Practices