Flourishing among Canada’s outstanding principal award recipients: the critical role of resilience

ABSTRACT

School leaders in Canada face increasing social, political, economic, educational, and professional demands, which often lead to increased workload, stress, burnout, decreased well-being, and lack of work-life balance. Research demonstrates that school principals with high levels of resilience are better at coping with stress and crisis, are generally more effective as leaders, are more connected to schools and districts, and have lower levels of compassion fatigue. Examining the challenges that school principals face can both prevent conditions that decrease their well-being and help understand coping strategies and resilience-building approaches necessary for successful school leadership. Drawing from the study of flourishing among the national award-winning principals in the Canada’s Outstanding Principals (COP) program, in this article we describe the participants’ perceptions regarding their resilience as school leaders, the conditions that discouraged school principals in their role, and the approaches that allowed them to develop their personal resilience. The article offers recommendations on how school administrators can overcome the challenges and flourish by fostering resilience and growing a resilient mind-set.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Benjamin Kutsyuruba

Benjamin Kutsyuruba is a Professor of Educational Leadership, Policy, and School Law in the Faculty of Education at Queen’s University, Canada. Throughout his career, Benjamin has worked as a teacher, researcher, manager, and professor in the field of education in Ukraine and Canada. His research focuses on leadership and policy, flourishing and wellbeing, and teacher induction and mentoring in international settings.

Nadia Arghash

Nadia Arghash, MEd, BA, BSc, is a researcher in the field of education at Queen’s University, Canada. She is interested in positive psychology as it relates to the conditions that promote well-being for individuals in the educational context. Her research pursuits include positive organizational leadership and thriving for students of higher education.

Jodi Basch

Jodi Basch is an adjunct professor at Queen’s University, Canada. Her research looks at the intersection between authentic leadership, resilience, and wellbeing in the context of transitioning from high school to university. She is a Registered Psychotherapist with the College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario and an Ontario Certified Teacher with the Ontario College of Teachers.