Blazing New Trails - Connexions

Complexities in the Workload of Principals: Implications for Teacher Leadership 45
Workload of the Principal
8. As a building principal, how often do you feel stress regarding the following issues:
My own ability to manage time efficiently
Evening and weekend responsibilities
Constant interruptions
Sharing leadership with teachers
Work-life balance
Being called away from the building for meetings
Working with parent groups such as PTA, Band Boosters, etc.
Diminished revenues
Concerns regarding personal health and fitness
Providing instructional leadership to faculty
Providing a vision for school improvement
General loss of joy in doing this work
Job expectations of the principalship
Planning quality professional development activities
Teachers’ resistance to change
Knowing how to prioritize tasks
Board of education presentations
Conflict within the staff
Feelings of being overwhelmed with job demands
Student discipline
Loss of personal time
Issues with unions
Insufficient time to “get the job done”
Working with ineffective or struggling teachers
Volume of paperwork
Dealing with parent complaints
Lunchroom and building supervision
Responding to student test score results
Reports to district and state
Responding to new demands of the curriculum
Personal goals and expectations to excel in this job
Dealing with changing demographics
Keeping up with email communications
Dealing with staff disputes
Increased performance expectations from central office
Conducting teacher evaluations
Almost
Daily (4)
Often (3)
Sometimes
(2)
9. What do you see as the most realistic solution to the workload pressures you face?
Rarely (1)
N/A