In his 1897 paper ‘My Pedagogic Creed’, renowned American philosopher and psychologist John Dewey made a statement that is as true today as it was back then.
The purpose of school, he wrote, goes well beyond simply helping young people learn their ABC’s. Schooling, Dewey believed, is the quiet but decisive engine through which a nation continually remakes itself – shaping character, cultivating social consciousness, and forging the civic fabric on which its entire future depends.
Indeed, studies over the years have shown how the transformative nature of school can impact the national economy, social cohesion, democratic values, and the moral and ethical trajectories of our future generations.
However, over the years, Australia’s school Principals – undertaking their gargantuan job with pride, and in many cases obsessive passion – have gone from being instructional leaders to crisis-managers, bureaucrats, counsellors, community diplomats, HR leaders, facilities managers and strategic planners all at once.
The job, many Principals feel, has lost its spark. Many are burning out and breaking down. Some have died at their desks. Tragically, some have decided to take their own life.
As a result, many are giving up and walking away from the job altogether. In recent years, studies show that not only is the Principal pipeline dwindling due to the sheer pressure of the job – new leaders are going the way of their predecessors. Worryingly, this includes middle leaders.
‘Expectations are excessive and unsustainable’
Drawing on 298 first-hand accounts from 256 principals, researchers from Monash University, Deakin University and the University of Sydney recently collaborated on a major study culminating in the ‘Invisible Labour’ report.
The study, released in November, shared alarming testimonies from public school Principals that laid bare the brutal impact of the job, including sleepless nights, nightmares, burnout, physical illness, trauma and, in some cases, symptoms of PTSD. Many described feeling isolated, undervalued and chronically under-supported as they shouldered the emotional weight of entire communities.
Angela Falkenberg heads up the Australian Primary Principals Association, the peak body representing more than 7,600 primary school principals in Government, Catholic and Independent schools, and the 2.2 million primary students enrolled in their schools.
She says the Invisible Labour report confirms what Australia’s primary school principals have long known: the emotional demands of school leadership have intensified and are now central to the role.
“These escalating expectations are having a serious, and in many cases unsustainable, impact on those who lead our schools,” Falkenberg told The Educator.
“APPA has long argued that principals must be both psychologically and physically safe in their work, and that systems have a clear responsibility to provide sustainable and meaningful support.”
Falkenberg said the report provides powerful evidence that current expectations are “excessive and unsustainable.”
“Every day, principals manage critical incidents; student mental health crises, family violence, bereavement, serious behavioural escalation, threats, and community trauma, often while maintaining a calm, steady presence for staff, students, and families,” she said.
“This emotional work is largely unseen, unmeasured, and unrewarded, yet it is fundamental to the safety, stability, and wellbeing of school communities.”
Falkenberg said wellbeing initiatives cannot be reduced to resilience training or generic wellness programs.
“Emotional labour is a structural occupational issue, not an individual coping problem,” she said. “Attracting and retaining strong, capable school leaders requires system-level change.”
‘The emotional toll on principals is significant’
Dr Paul Kidson is the Associate Professor in Educational Leadership at the Australian Catholic University (ACU), and a co-investigator on the Australian Principal Occupational Health, Safety, and Wellbeing Survey.
He says the joint Deakin-Monash University research “brings incredibly important insights to the toll taken on the lives of principals”.
“It’s an important complement to ACU’s 15-year longitudinal study on principal well-being,” Dr Kidson told The Educator. “Our research shows significant demand for hiding emotions by Australia’s principals, far greater than the wider population experiences.”
Dr Kidson said the new Monash reports also explore in significant depth the qualitative impact this has on principals in government schools.
“It is encouraging to see similar recommendations to our own regarding provision of professional supervision like is available for community first responders, psychologists, and counsellors,” he said. “The emotional toll on principals is significant, particularly during and after critical events, and these type types of provisions should be a standard component within the role of the principal.”
Dr Kidson said the ACU’s Institute for Positive Psychology and Education has made the same recommendations.
“Hopefully between the two major research projects, we will finally see some change on these matters. The sustainability of school leaders requires these supportive strategies.”
‘The report must be a turning point’
APPA is calling for the formal recognition of emotional labour in the principal role, system-wide professional supervision and trauma-informed support, reduced administrative burden, and targeted assistance for leaders in high-need and complex contexts.
“The report’s recommendations must now be implemented,” Falkenberg said.
“You would not send a paramedic, psychologist, or social worker into repeated traumatic situations without structured support; the same principle must apply to school leaders, who increasingly act as first responders to complex crises in their communities.”
Falkenberg said the report should be a turning point.
“Supporting principals is not just about better working conditions; it is about safeguarding the future of our schools, strengthening our communities, and ensuring every child and young person is led by a healthy, supported, and sustainable leader.”
Overwhelmed leaders working in an outdated system
Andy Mison, national president of the Australian Secondary Principals’ Association (ASPA), the peak body representing the interests of government secondary school leaders across Australia, says while the role of Principals has fundamentally changed, the systems designed to support them have not kept pace.
“Principals across all sectors are navigating increasingly complex environments, managing staff teams through uncertainty, supporting students with heightened mental health challenges, and responding to community expectations that extend well beyond traditional educational leadership,” Mison told The Educator.
Mison said ASPA welcomes the report’s recommendations, particularly the call for peer support networks and clinical supervision but would also like to see these supports sustainably resourced and embedded as standard entitlements – not “optional extras dependent on individual initiative or jurisdictional goodwill”.
“Principals should have the same access to professional supervision that we expect for counsellors, psychologists and social workers, professions whose emotional labour we readily acknowledge and resource,” he said.
“By professional supervision, we mean regular, structured opportunities to reflect on the emotional and relational demands of the role with a trained professional, distinct from line management or performance review.”
Mison said ASPA is also calling on education departments to urgently review the resourcing models that leave principals, particularly in disadvantaged and regional communities, without adequate administrative and specialist support.
“When principals are required to act as counsellors, compliance officers, facilities managers and community co-ordinators simultaneously, we should not be surprised by the toll this takes,” he said. “Investing in principal wellbeing is not a discretionary expense; it is fundamental to attracting and retaining the leaders our schools need.”
Mison said the latest research must inform the national conversation about school funding and workforce sustainability.
“Strong, healthy schools require strong, healthy leaders, and these leaders require genuine systemic support as a basic workplace guarantee.”
It’s not the hours — It’s the work inside them
With 55 years under his belt in education, including 38 years as a Principal, Henry Grossek has just about seen it all. Earlier this year, he made the difficult decision to retire.
“There are many reasons for the sorry state we are facing regarding teacher and leadership shortages in Australia,” Grossek told The Educator. “Workload is regularly cited as one important factor, with reports indicating teachers work on average 46.4 hours per week, which, incidentally, is 5 hours per week above the OECD average.”
He said the public’s perception of teachers’ workloads often complicates the conversation about burnout and long hours.
“Whilst continuing long hours are certainly a contributing factor, we don’t get a lot of sympathy on that from much of the general public, many of whom work even longer hours per week and are cognisant of the fact that teachers have 10 weeks annual leave, a fact I was often reminded of during my career,” he said.
“We miss a vital point, when viewing teacher workload via the quantity of hours worked per week.”
Grossek said the nature of the work that consumes a significant portion of those hours is at least as important.
“The trending nature in recent years has been one of teachers and school leaders spending an increasing proportion of their working week on an assortment of wellbeing issues,” he said. “Many of these are highly complex, extremely time-consuming and emotionally draining to a high level.”
Grossek said examples of this include online, out of school hours bullying, feuds between and within families and a lack of support staff sufficiently trained to meet the high social/emotional needs of children in distress.
“These all contribute to, often unbearable stress on all school staff,” he said.
“With this mind, taking all other factors into account too, it is little wonder that we are faced with the crisis in the teaching profession that we have.”