“Like Juggling 10 Chainsaws”

A national study of 256 public school principals has found principals struggling with their wellbeing and suffering from insomnia, nightmares, stress, exhaustion, physical illness, trauma and PTSD.

Principals in the public school system are also facing escalating psychosocial risks, including violence, burnout and emotional exhaustion.

Led by Monash University in collaboration with Deakin University and the University of Sydney, a national study of being a principal in Australian public schools examined the emotional labour of Australian public school principals who tell, in their own words their tales of daily stress.

The study included 298 critical incident testimonies from 256 public school principals nationwide, additional stakeholder interviews and focus groups, a policy audit, and case studies from diverse school settings.

A principal from an outer suburban school in Queensland explained what it was like dealing with critical incidents:
“[It was] like juggling 10 chainsaws. You are caring for students and staff, managing media, responding to the community, responding to the Minister’s office, reaching out to the actual family of the child, shutting down ridiculous gossip, working with police and attending to a multitude of other tasks. You go home at night, [you] don’t sleep and [then] repeat [it all again] the next day. After a few weeks it dies down and life returns to normal for everyone else. As my [Deputy Principal] said to me two weeks following [a critical incident] - I don’t know how you’re still standing. Adrenalin was my only answer.”  

Another principal reflected on their experience of the school burning down during a bushfire.

“I received a call from Emergency Management to inform me there was a fire. I felt like I was going to pass out, my mind was racing and I knew at that point I was going to have to find the strength to lead this community through a very rough time. The fire was devastating. Our whole community was in shock, everyone was desperate for answers.

“Parents wanted to know what was happening to their child's education, and staff were overwhelmed with emotion. It was totally overwhelming - I grabbed a pen and exercise book and started writing everything down. It was surreal. We were all traumatised and running on empty and many of us functioning on minimal sleep. The next eight weeks were a blur. All of my emotional resources went into the kids, staff and families. I talked, listened and was available from morning till night.”

Lead Monash researcher, Professor Jane Wilkinson, explains how the stories of principals offer an unflinching and deeply human insight into principals’ lived experiences.

“Managing competing demands, and the emotional capacity to switch seamlessly between interactions with diverse members of school communities, can negatively affect principals’ health and wellbeing, leading to chronic stress, burnout and lower job satisfaction,” Professor Wilkinson said.

Principals’ stories of emotional labour, defined as the management of their emotions and that of others to meet professional expectations, is a critical but largely invisible aspect of school leadership, especially in increasingly volatile social, political and economic contexts.

Co-author, Professor Lucas Walsh, said that little is known about the emotional labour that principals experience.

“We know that principals’ work is stressful, involving a constant juggle of often-conflicting demands of students, staff, parents and carers, amongst others. What is new is the intensified emotional management work of school leadership. Managing one’s emotions and navigating those of others - ‘emotional labour’ - is widely recognised as a crucial aspect of principals’ work, but little is known about it,” Professor Walsh said.

“These reports call for major reform of the principalship that acknowledges their role as emotional leaders and first responders. Systemic change is essential to ensure principals are supported, retained and empowered to lead schools that foster equity and social justice.”

The emotional demands of leadership are gendered, racialised and classed, with women and principals in disadvantaged schools disproportionately affected.
Emotional labour is largely absent from policy frameworks and principal role descriptions, despite being central to effective leadership.

Principals routinely suppress personal emotions to maintain calm and professionalism, which can lead to emotional exhaustion and burnout. Isolation and lack of emotional support exacerbates stress, especially during crises. This emotional labour manifests physically in illness, trauma and even injury.

Principals often act as first responders in critical incidents such as school violence, bushfires and floods, performing roles akin to police, paramedics and counsellors. The physical and emotional toll is compounded by inadequate support and recognition by governments.

Rural and remote principals face particular challenges: isolation, lack of resources and community-wide trauma while principals in low socio-economic schools confront growing inequities, heightened emotional demands and systemic underfunding.

The report recommends:
• An urgent review of principal role descriptions to incorporate principals’ first responder role and emotional labour. The review should be conducted by a working party comprising principal associations, unions and education departments in all states and territories.
• Establish peer support networks and access to clinical supervision for principals at all career stages.
• Increased provision of specialist roles and customised services for public schools, including behaviour support, disability, mental health and psychological services for students and staff, particularly in regional, rural, remote and highly disadvantaged schools.

The project titled, the Invisible labour: Principals’ emotional labour in volatile times, will release a series of reports in the coming months, identifying how emotional labour impacts school principals.