Building Emotional Resilience for School Leadership

Is it Counter-Cultural?

Julia Stewardwww.chrysalisleadershipdevelopment.com

Workshop for the British Educational Leadership, Management and Administration Society (Belmas) Conference 2015

Where my journey started – the conspiracy of silence: it’s not okay to feel vulnerable in leadership

1st appearance as requirement for headship

How to build emotional resilience?

Initial researchSurvey – 135 schools, 49 responsesTime in headship:1-3 years: 41%4-9 years: 49%10+ years: 10%

61% first headship20% second headshipRemainder 3+

98%Agreed it was ‘very important’

What contributes to your emotional resilience?

All respondents: top 31. the support of family

and friends 2. time spent with pupils3. evidence of having made a positive difference3. conversations with colleagues in school

There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so

Peter Church [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

The internal story

Interviewees’ definitions of emotional resilience

If we can choose nothing else, we can choose how we see things

www.valuescentre.com 16

7-levels of human consciousness

Know and Understand

Physiological

Safety

Love & Belonging

Self-esteem

Ever 6AcademiesProgress 8British valuesSafeguardingRadicalisationSEND reformsClosing the gapTeaching schoolsChild mental healthChanges to admissionsSchool to school supportNew national curriculumAssessment without levelsChanges to GCSE, A & AS levelsUniversal free school meals in KS1Same funding for increased numbersFine parents for taking pupils out of schoolTackle obesity through sport & healthy eatingTackle climate change through eco schools awareTeach tolerance while being intolerant of intoleranceChanges to leaving age for compulsory education and trainingEarly language deprivation: more nurseries and better qualified staff

Distractions from looking after self in school leadership

Are we in danger of killing the geese charged with laying the golden eggs?

Is it possible to build emotional resilience in preparation for

school leadership?

Building & Sustaining Resilience for School Leadership/

Training for the Tough Times

• 12 leaders in same school• 6 sessions over academic year • 3x3 diagnostics – vitality, stress, resilience• Learning log• Combine theory & practice• Set intentions

What I knew alreadyBoth …. And …

Paying attention to wellbeing improves resilience

School leaders don’t prioritise their own needs: they’re busy looking after others

Resilience is strengthened by experience coupled with reflection and learning

School leaders find it difficult to carve out time to reflect

Resilience is strengthened when we know we’ve made a positive difference

Most school leaders celebrate others’ or the school’s success and don’t credit their own contribution

Resilience dips when we feel out of control in a situation we believe we should be able to control

Schools leaders are held accountable for societal issues over which they have no control

Programme Content• Theory into practice• Physical wellbeing• The neuroscience that connects physical and

emotional wellbeing• Interrogate habits of thinking & behaviour • Increased self-awareness/self-management• Peer support• Coaching

Vitality Stress Resilience

For more information, to take part in a programme, or arrange a taster session,

contact

Julia Stewardjulia@chrysalisleadershipdevelopment.com

Conclusion: it IS possible to grow resilience proactively