School Administrators And Stress Management

No one is exempted from stress and that is a fact of life. School administrators, with the aim to provide quality education thus hire excellent teachers who can deliver. Along with this mission to serve is the expected stress. School administrators are therefore not immune to the effects of stress.

School administrators and stress management have become the topics of many books that are recently published. These books tackled on the relationship of school administrators and stress management and how the latter affects the former.

One of the brave souls that authored a book on school administrators and stress management is Dr. Andrea Thompson. Dr. Thompson is an expert on the field of educational leadership having finished her post-graduate studies from Barry University, Florida. Her book entitled “Stress Management for School Administrators: A Survival Guide” is anchored on the fact that school administrators are constantly bombarded with complaints from students and parents. Likewise, they also have to deal with issues from teachers and other personnel. The book is highlighting the myriads of ways school administrators can cop with the different sources of stress that they have to constantly deal with, lest it would wear them down.

Faced with the dilemma of handling their subordinates’ stress, school administrators too have to deal with their own. Managing stress in school setting is as challenging a task as providing quality education and retaining excellent teachers. Hence school administrators have to hurdle stressful situations lest it impede the growth of the school and likewise might strain their relationship with teachers, students, and parents.

Schools owners likewise, at their end, are looking for school administrators who can handle pressure and stressful situations. The fact still remains that owners of schools in America are daunted with the task on how to attract, develop and retain potential school administrators. This concern has been plaguing the four corners of educational field. Would-be school administrators in the US are fazed with the truth that the stress that their future jobs entail is costly, especially to their mental, physical and emotional health. Hence, the school administration positions available did not actually attract a considerable number of applicants.

In a study conducted by Lynette J. Fields of University of South Florida, St. Petersburg has revealed that school administrators in this case the principals who are in their first year of the taking the post were mostly stressed due to the demands of their time that seemed difficult to control, staff and teachers, and the conflicts among the personnel. Likewise first-time assistant principal went though the same experience. Moreover, it can be gleaned from the study that principals and assistant principals have different sources of stress. Nevertheless, their coping strategies are more or less the same like laughter, exercise, and expression of pent up emotions.

School administrators and stress management are the concerns of school owners. These two must be equally given proper attention in order to maximize potential and resources.