In May 2024, SASSLA held a conference with researchers from Monash University to connect with South Australian school leaders for the research project titled Invisible Labour: Principals’ Emotional Labour in Volatile Times. This work is of specific interest to SASSLA as it is directly linked to our employment priority of reducing workload and turnover due to the increased emotional demands placed on principals, especially in the context of growing social, economic and community volatility.
The report confirms that Principals are carrying a significant and growing emotional burden that is largely unrecognised, unmeasured and unsupported. This emotional labour has become central to effective school leadership, particularly in navigating complex student needs, heightened community expectations, workplace conflict, violence, trauma and crisis response.
The first two reports of a four part series can be accessed here: Report 1, Report 2
Key findings:
- Escalating psychosocial risks: Principals are increasingly exposed to stress, burnout, emotional exhaustion and, in some cases, violence with serious implications for health, safety and career sustainability.
- Systemic pressures intensify emotional labour: Underfunding, workforce shortages, administrative burden and increasingly polarised communities all amplify the emotional demands placed on school leaders.
- Unequal impact: The emotional labour of principals is not evenly distributed. Women principals and those leading schools in disadvantaged, rural and remote communities experience a disproportionate burden.
- Policy silence: Despite its centrality to the role, emotional labour is largely absent from principal role descriptions, leadership standards and policy frameworks, leaving principals individually responsible for managing systemic risks.