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Interrelations between principals’ risk of burnout profiles and proactive self-regulation strategies

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Abstract

School leadership is a demanding job. Those involved in school leadership have shown to experience high levels of work stress that may, if prolonged, result in burnout. The purpose of this study was to examine school leaders’ risks of burnout in terms of work stress and burnout symptoms, and their relationship with proactive self-regulation strategies. The participants consisted of 420 school principals and teachers with leadership duties (henceforth: principals). The survey data consisted of Likert-type statements and were analysed by hierarchical and K-means cluster analysis, and one-way analysis of variances. The results suggested that principals experience relatively low levels of work stress and burnout, and utilise several proactive self-regulation strategies. On the basis of cluster analysis, four risk of burnout profiles were identified. The profiles differed from each other in terms of proactive self-regulation strategies. The use of these strategies was related to a reduced risk of burnout.

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Funding

Funding was provided by the Academy of Finland and the Ministry of Education and Culture.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Educational Sciences, University of Helsinki, Siltavuorenpenger 1A, P.O. Box 9, 00014, Helsinki, Finland

    Lotta Tikkanen

  2. Faculty of Educational Sciences, University of Oulu, Yliopistokatu 9, 90014, Oulu, Finland

    Kirsi Pyhältö

  3. Centre for University Teaching and Learning, Faculty of Educational Sciences, University of Helsinki, Siltavuorenpenger 1A, P.O. Box 9, 00014, Helsinki, Finland

    Kirsi Pyhältö

  4. School of Applied Educational Science and Teacher education, University of Eastern Finland, Yliopistokatu 2, P.O. Box 111, 80101, Joensuu, Finland

    Janne Pietarinen

  5. School of Education, University of Tampere, Virta (Åkerlundinkatu 5), 33014, Tampere, Finland

    Tiina Soini

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  1. Lotta Tikkanen
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  2. Kirsi Pyhältö
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Lotta Tikkanen.

Appendix 1: The scales (Translated from Finnish)

Appendix 1: The scales (Translated from Finnish)

1.1 Work stress

Stress means a situation in which a person feels tense, restless, nervous or anxious or is unable to sleep at night because his/her mind is troubled all the time. Do you feel this kind of work-related stress?

Response categories: (1) = not at all—very much = (10).

1.2 Burnout

1.2.1 Exhaustion

Exh10: I often have to work too hard.

Exh11: The worries related to my work as a teacher keep occupying me during my free time.

Exh12: I feel burnt out.

Exh13: With this work pace I don’t think I’ll make it to the retirement age.

1.2.2 Cynicism towards teacher community

Cyn21: I’m disappointed in our teacher community’s ways of handling our shared affairs.

Cyn22: In spite of several efforts to develop the working habits of our teacher community they haven’t really changed.

Cyn23: I often feel like an outsider in my work community.

Cyn24: The idea of advancing our work community feels distant.

1.2.3 Inadequacy in teacher–pupil interaction

Inad31: The challenging pupils make me question my abilities as a teacher.

Inad32: I often feel I have failed in my work with pupils.

Inad33: Dealing with problem situations considering my pupils often upsets me.

Response categories: (1) = I disagree completely—I agree completely = (7).

1.2.4 Proactive self-regulation strategies

  • Stra11: I’m able to control my work pace in the busy school work schedule.

  • Stra12: I can set limits to my work assignments.

  • Stra13: I know when it’s time for me to adjust my work pace.

  • Stra14: It’s possible to learn to adjust the way you manage your work strain.

  • Stra15: I have confidence in my ability to survive the challenges in my work.

  • Stra16: I’m able to influence my own work strain.

  • Response categories: (1) = I disagree completely—I agree completely = (7).

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Tikkanen, L., Pyhältö, K., Pietarinen, J. et al. Interrelations between principals’ risk of burnout profiles and proactive self-regulation strategies. Soc Psychol Educ 20, 259–274 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11218-017-9379-9

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