Responding to the Current Capricious State of Australian Educational Leadership: We Should Have Seen It Coming!

Journal article


Branson, Christopher M., Marra, Maureen and Kidson, Paul. (2024). Responding to the Current Capricious State of Australian Educational Leadership: We Should Have Seen It Coming! Education Sciences. 14(4), pp. 1-13. https://doi.org/10.3390/edusci14040410
AuthorsBranson, Christopher M., Marra, Maureen and Kidson, Paul
Abstract

The capricious state of Australian educational leadership is evidenced in the publication, “The Australian Principal Occupational Health, Safety, and Wellbeing Survey 2022 Data”, which highlights unsustainable adverse health outcomes for an increasing number of school leaders. According to this report, the accumulation of stress caused by the sheer quantity of work, the lack of time to focus on teaching and learning, a lack of sufficient teachers, and having to care for an increasing number of staff and students with mental health issues were the main causes of professional disillusionment and burnout among Australian school leaders. Moreover, the level of destabilisation and chaos that this situation could cause, should it continue to rise, is compounded by current research highlighting an ever-decreasing number of applicants for school leadership positions. To assign blame for this serious predicament on the excessive school leadership demands during COVID-19 is to ignore the abundant pre-existing evidence already pointing to this eventuality. However, the way in which Australian school leaders were able to constructively lead during the intensely demanding COVID-19 period does provide additional compelling support for the adoption of a far more relational foundation for leadership theory and practice. Hence, in response to this understanding, this article first presents during-COVID-19 and pre-COVID-19 Australian school leadership research literature to not only describe the evolving concerning issues but also to present the demand for a more relational approach to leadership. Then, the article proceeds to justify and illustrate a new relational approach to the practice of school leadership informed by our theory of organizational ecology. It is proposed that this new way of leading relationally will enable Australian school leaders to ultimately overcome the myriad of complex and stressful crises that now confront them.

Keywordsschool leadership; wellbeing; stress; burnout; relational leadership
Year01 Jan 2024
JournalEducation Sciences
Journal citation14 (4), pp. 1-13
PublisherMDPI
ISSN2227-7102
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.3390/edusci14040410
Web address (URL)https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7102/14/4/410
Open accessOpen access
Research or scholarlyResearch
Page range1-13
Publisher's version
License
File Access Level
Open
Output statusPublished
Publication dates
Online15 Apr 2024
Publication process dates
Accepted08 Apr 2024
Deposited05 Jul 2024
Additional information

© 2024 by the authors.
Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
This article is an open access article
distributed under the terms and
conditions of the Creative Commons
Attribution (CC BY) license (https://
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/
4.0/)

This article is an open access article
distributed under the terms and
conditions of the Creative Commons
Attribution (CC BY) license (https://
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/
4.0/)

Place of publicationSwitzerland
Permalink -

https://acuresearchbank.acu.edu.au/item/90qwy/responding-to-the-current-capricious-state-of-australian-educational-leadership-we-should-have-seen-it-coming

Download files


Publisher's version
  • 46
    total views
  • 24
    total downloads
  • 2
    views this month
  • 1
    downloads this month
These values are for the period from 19th October 2020, when this repository was created.

Export as

Related outputs

‘We Were an Afterthought’: Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Pandemic in Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) Communities in New South Wales, Australia
Mugumbate, Rugare, Gopaldasani, Vinod, Kidson, Paul and Ravulo, Jioji J.. (2024). ‘We Were an Afterthought’: Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Pandemic in Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) Communities in New South Wales, Australia. Social Work in Public Health. 39(6), pp. 509-521. https://doi.org/10.1080/19371918.2024.2343390
Developing a personalized educational leadership theory : A promising approach to school leadership development?
Lipscombe, Kylie, Tindall-Ford, Sharon and Kidson, Paul. (2024). Developing a personalized educational leadership theory : A promising approach to school leadership development? Journal of Research on Leadership Education. pp. 1-21. https://doi.org/10.1177/19427751241245971
Bringing purpose and peace-of-mind to the role of a Catholic school middle leader
Buchanan, Michael T., Branson, Christopher M. and Marra, Maureen. (2022). Bringing purpose and peace-of-mind to the role of a Catholic school middle leader. British Journal of Religious Education. 44(3), pp. 304-314. https://doi.org/10.1080/01416200.2021.2008314
Structural challenges implementing International Baccalaureate programmes in Australia 
Kidson, Paul. (2021). Structural challenges implementing International Baccalaureate programmes in Australia . In In Coulson, David Gregory, Datta, Shammi and Davies, Michael James (Ed.). Educational reform and International Baccalaureate in the Asia-Pacific pp. 194-213 IGI Global. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-7998-5107-3.ch011
Catholic school leadership revisited
Branson, Christopher M., Hall, David, Sultmann, William and Kidson, Paul. (2021). Catholic school leadership revisited. Educatio Catholica. 7(3-4), pp. 121-144.
Co-designing educational policy : Professional voice and policy making post-COVID
Kidson, Paul, Lipscombe, Kylie and Tindall-Ford, Sharon. (2020). Co-designing educational policy : Professional voice and policy making post-COVID. International Studies in Educational Administration. 48(3), pp. 15-22.
The International Baccalaureate in Australia : trends and issues
Kidson, Paul, Odhiambo, George and Wilson, Rachel. (2019). The International Baccalaureate in Australia : trends and issues. Compare: a journal of comparative and international education. 49(3), pp. 393-412. https://doi.org/10.1080/03057925.2017.1415751
Re-constructing Catholic school leadership : Integrating mission, identity and practice
Branson, Christopher, Marra, Maureen and Buchanan, Michael. (2019). Re-constructing Catholic school leadership : Integrating mission, identity and practice. International Studies in Catholic Education. 11(2), pp. 219-232. https://doi.org/10.1080/19422539.2019.1641053
Leadership as a relational phenomenon : What this means in practice
Branson, Christopher M. and Marra, Maureen. (2019). Leadership as a relational phenomenon : What this means in practice. Research in Educational Administration and Leaders. 4(1), pp. 81-108. https://doi.org/10.30828/real/2019.1.4
A theory-to-practice leadership learning arrangement in a university context
Franken, Margaret, Branson, Chris and Penney, Dawn. (2018). A theory-to-practice leadership learning arrangement in a university context. International Journal of Leadership in Education. 21(4), pp. 491 - 505. https://doi.org/10.1080/13603124.2016.1247196
In search of seamless education
Branson, Christopher, Morrison, Michele and McNae, Rachel. (2016). In search of seamless education. In In S. J. Shapiro and J. P. Gross (Ed.). Democratic Ethical Educational Leadership: Reclaiming School Reform pp. 138 - 143 Routledge.
Middle leadership in higher education: A relational analysis
Branson, Christopher M., Franken, Margaret and Penney, Dawn. (2016). Middle leadership in higher education: A relational analysis. Educational Management, Administration & Leadership. 44(1), pp. 128 - 145. https://doi.org/10.1177/1741143214558575
The reintegration of Tongan postgraduate scholars after study abroad: Knowledge utilisation and resituation
Franken, Margaret, Langi, Nautalus Tuituiovai Kaho and Branson, Christopher. (2016). The reintegration of Tongan postgraduate scholars after study abroad: Knowledge utilisation and resituation. Asia Pacific Education Review. 17(4), pp. 691 - 702. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12564-016-9462-5
Multiple hues : New Zealand school leaders' perceptions of social justice
Morrison, Michele, McNae, Rachel and Branson, Christopher. (2015). Multiple hues : New Zealand school leaders' perceptions of social justice. Journal of Educational Leadership Policy and Practice. 30(1), pp. 4 - 16.
Tui tui tuituia - Weaving together : What can be generalized from these articles?
Branson, Christopher, Morrison, Michele and McNae, Rachel. (2015). Tui tui tuituia - Weaving together : What can be generalized from these articles? Journal of Educational Leadership Policy and Practice. 30(1), pp. 119 - 128.
Personal values of principals and their manifestation in student behaviour : A district-level study in Pakistan
Branson, Christopher, Baig, Sharifullah and Begum, Abida. (2015). Personal values of principals and their manifestation in student behaviour : A district-level study in Pakistan. Educational Management, Administration & Leadership. 43(1), pp. 107 - 128. https://doi.org/10.1177/1741143213510505
Middle leaders' learning in a university context
Franken, Margaret, Penney, Dawn and Branson, Christopher. (2015). Middle leaders' learning in a university context. Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management. 37(2), pp. 190 - 203. https://doi.org/10.1080/1360080X.2015.1019120
Educational change leadership through a new zonal theory lens : Using mathematics curriculum change as the example
Lamb, Janeen and Branson, Christopher. (2015). Educational change leadership through a new zonal theory lens : Using mathematics curriculum change as the example. Policy Futures in Education. 13(8), pp. 1010 - 1026. https://doi.org/10.1177/1478210315588840
Governance
Kidson, Paul. (2014). Governance. In In Goodler, Ken and Collier, John (Ed.). Teaching well : Insights for educators in Christian schools pp. 247-256 Barton Books.
Professional learning in the lives of teachers: Towards a new framework for conceptualising teacher learning
Cameron, Sandra, Mulholland, Judith and Branson, Christopher. (2013). Professional learning in the lives of teachers: Towards a new framework for conceptualising teacher learning. Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education. 41(4), pp. 377 - 397. https://doi.org/10.1080/1359866X.2013.838620
The wisdom-based face of organizations
Branson, Christopher. (2011). The wisdom-based face of organizations. In In M.A.Sarlak (Ed.). The New Faces of Organizations in the 21st Century pp. 173 - 204 North American Institute of Science and Informatio....
Leading educational change wisely
Branson, Christopher M.. (2010). Leading educational change wisely Sense Publishers.
Free to become: the essence of learning and leading
Branson, Christopher. (2010). Free to become: the essence of learning and leading. In pp. 85 - 104 Emerald Group Publishing Ltd.
Ethical decision making: Is personal moral integrity the missing link?
Branson, Chris. (2010). Ethical decision making: Is personal moral integrity the missing link? Journal of Authentic Leadership in Education. 1(1), pp. 1 - 8.
Leadership for an age of wisdom
Branson, Christopher. (2009). Leadership for an age of wisdom Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-2996-6
Finding a philosophical framework in support of 'presence'
Branson, Chris. (2009). Finding a philosophical framework in support of 'presence'. Leadership and Organization Development Journal. 30(3), pp. 224 - 239. https://doi.org/10.1108/01437730910949517
Achieving organisational change through values alignment
Branson, Chris. (2008). Achieving organisational change through values alignment. Journal of Educational Administration. 46(3), pp. 376 - 395. https://doi.org/10.1108/09578230810869293
Improving leadership by nurturing moral consciousness through structured self-reflection
Branson, Christopher Michael. (2007). Improving leadership by nurturing moral consciousness through structured self-reflection. Journal of Educational Administration.
Effects of structured self-reflection on the development of authentic leadership practices among Queensland primary school principals
Branson, Chris. (2007). Effects of structured self-reflection on the development of authentic leadership practices among Queensland primary school principals. Educational Management, Administration & Leadership. 35(2), pp. 225 - 246. https://doi.org/10.1177/1741143207075390
Beyond authenticity: Contemporary leadership from a worldview perspective
Branson, Chris. (2006). Beyond authenticity: Contemporary leadership from a worldview perspective. Values and Ethics in Educational Administration. 4(4), pp. 1 - 8.
Focusing on Literacy :A Whole School Approach Preschool to Year 12
Branson, Christopher Michael, Young, Janelle Patricia, Parkinson, John and Johnson, Ruth. (2005). Focusing on Literacy :A Whole School Approach Preschool to Year 12. In Janelle Young (Ed.). Pleasure; Passion; Provocation: Proceedings of the AATE/ALEA National Conference. , Australia: AATE/ALEA Professional Organisations. pp. 1 - 14
Exploring the concept of values-led principalship
Branson, Christopher Michael. (2005). Exploring the concept of values-led principalship. Leading & Managing.
Values led principalship: Myths and realities
Spry, Gayle and Branson, Christopher Michael. (2005). Values led principalship: Myths and realities. In P. Jeffrey (Ed.). Australian Association for Research in Education 2004 Conference Papers. Melbourne, Australia: Australian Association for Research in Education. pp. 1 - 19
An exploration of the concept of values-led principalship
Branson, Christopher Michael. (2004). An exploration of the concept of values-led principalship [Thesis]. https://doi.org/10.4226/66/5a8f96300f3f5