Fostering resilience and wellbeing in educational leadership
Restricted (Penn State Only)
- Author:
- Doyle Fosco, Sebrina
- Graduate Program:
- Educational Leadership
- Degree:
- Doctor of Philosophy
- Document Type:
- Dissertation
- Date of Defense:
- May 17, 2022
- Committee Members:
- Gerald Letendre, Program Head/Chair
David Almeida, Outside Field Member
Deb Schussler, Chair & Dissertation Advisor
Patricia Jennings, Special Member
Gerald Letendre, Major Field Member
Damon Jones, Outside Unit Member - Keywords:
- mindfulness
wellbeing
educational leadership
principals
administrators
self-care
stress
well-being
superintendents
burnout - Abstract:
- The overarching goal for this dissertation project was to better understand wellbeing in the context of educational leadership. Educational leaders are vital to the wellbeing of the entire educational community. There is a wealth of research demonstrating the effects that they have on students, teachers, and school culture. That said, when educational leaders are struggling, they are not always able to provide their best to others. Research indicates that those who have challenges with their own wellbeing may be less able to impact student engagement and achievement, and school working conditions. Recently there has been a growing interest in supporting educational leader wellbeing to decrease turnover by addressing burnout. Mindfulness-based programs are one approach that has received attention in the last decade as a way to work more effectively with stressors and support wellbeing in education. These programs have been tested relatively extensively with teachers and have been shown to support social emotional competence and wellbeing. Recent work has also shown promise of mindfulness-based professional development for those in leadership roles. This dissertation uses an adapted version of the Resilience Portfolio Model and the Model for Positive Education to explore ways to understand and promote educational leader resilience and wellbeing in the context of ongoing, pernicious job stress. First, a systematic review was conducted on educational leader wellbeing. Next, a convergent parallel mixed-methods case study analysis of baseline data from educational leaders in an urban/suburban school district in Pennsylvania was conducted to examine sources of stress, impacts of stress, sources of self-care and the interplay between them. Finally, the third study utilized a multiple case study design to understand participant responsiveness to a mindfulness-based professional development program delivered to educational leaders. Recommendations are provided for how districts can support wellbeing systemically. Further consideration is given for how to design programs to support resilience and wellbeing at the individual level for school and district leaders.