Growing the Resilience and Well-Being of Novice Female School Administrators: The Development of a Training Module and Toolkit for Ontario Principal Training Programs
Loading...
Authors
Dos-Santos Mendes, Bernadette
Date
2022-08
Type
other
Language
en
Keyword
Novice Female School Administrators , Resilience and Well-Being
Alternative Title
Abstract
The job responsibilities associated with the position of a school administrator have never been straightforward and have become even more complex as the workload has intensified throughout the first part of the 21st century. This has resulted in the need to enhance the development of principal training programs to better equip and prepare future school administrators with the skills and competencies required to effectively achieve their job expectations. Principals now must work with increased job responsibilities, insufficient funding for resources, and a mounting number of government policies and educational reforms. This escalation in duties is hindering the recruitment, retention, and job performance of school administrators. Researchers suggested that instructional programs improve, and student learning enhances when women are in the school administrator role because they place a great deal of importance on instruction and learning. Therefore, with the demand for resilient and effective instructional school leaders caused by the increase in educational reforms, it is imperative to increase the recruitment and retention of female school administrators. The context of this project is principal training programs in Ontario that serve to train aspiring school administrators, and more specifically novice female vice-principals and principals. To begin with, this project started with the review of the factors that relate to the intensification of the work of school administrators in Ontario and the challenges that women face as they transition into their new role as school administrator. The purpose of this project was to develop a training module and toolkit focused on growing the resilience and well-being of novice female school administrators in Ontario principal training programs and within their first three years of working as a school administrator. The Adult Resilience Doughnut Model, which is a strengths-based and solution-focused model, was used for designing the resilience and well-being training module and toolkit. This model consists of two connecting circles; the inner circle represents the internal assets that an individual has, and the outer circle represents their external resources. Implications for practice include suggestions for female educators transitioning into their new role as school administrators, teacher leadership professional training, and principal training programs.