School Principals’ Opinions on the Meaning and Sources of Workload

Year 2020, Volume: 7 Issue: 1, 177 - 191, 15.06.2020

Muhammet Emin Türkoğlu , Ramazan Cansoy

https://doi.org/10.33200/ijcer.657994

Cited By: 2

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to examine various factors affecting workload of principals including psychological effects and coping strategies. A semi-structured interview was conducted with 13 principals. Participants consisted of primary and secondary school principals in a province in the Western Black Sea Region, Turkey. According to the research, principals perceive workload as work that limits the time, they want to devote to improving education. Therefore, the main sources of workload were perceived as having to run errands at school, time pressure, human resource-based problems, unnecessary formal daily routines and high e-mail volume. Finally, it was found that principals’ coping strategies were not effective, and that workload caused work-family conflict, stress and emotional wear and tear. Thus, this research contributes to the theoretical framework related to workload. It is suggested to organize bureaucratic procedures in schools, share leadership, establish training programs for principals, raise awareness of principals on time management, and employ assistant principals and other technical personnel where there is staff shortage.

Keywords

Principals, Workload, Workload Sources

References

• Adams, A., Lugsden, E., Chase, J., Arber, S., & Bond, S. (2000). Skill-mix changes and work intensification in nursing. Work, Employment & Society, 14(3), 541-555.
• Ahuja, M. K., Chudoba, K. M., Kacmar, C. J., McKnight, D. H., & George, J. F. (2007). It road warriors: balancing work-family conflict, job autonomy, and work overload to mitigate turnover intentions. MIS Quarterly, 31(1), 1-17. doi:10.2307/25148778
• Altun, S. A. (2011). Başarılı ilköğretim okulu müdürlerinin zaman yönetimi stratejileri [Time management strategies of successful primary school principals]. Kuram ve Uygulamada Eğitim Yönetimi, 4(4), 491-507.
• Arar, K. (2014). Deputy-principals in Arab schools in Israel: An era of reform. International Journal of Educational Management, 28(1), 96-113. doi:10.1108/IJEM-01-2012-0003
• Arar, K. (2018). How novice principals face the challenges of principalship in the Arab Education System in Israel. 45(6), 580-596. doi:10.1177/0894845317726392
• Arar, K., Tamir, E., & Abu-Hussain, J. (2019). Understanding reforms, school reactions to major changes: The case of Israel. Journal of Educational Administration and History, 51(4), 402-418. doi:10.1080/00220620.2019.1624511
• Aslanargun, E., & Bozkurt, S. (2012). Okul müdürlerinin okul yönetiminde karşılaştığı sorunlar [Problems faced by school principals in school management]. Gaziantep University Journal of Social Sciences, 11(2), 349-368.
• Aydın, A. (2016). Okul müdürlerinin bir haftasına genel bir bakış [An overview of one week of school principals]. (Master's thesis), Osmangazi University, Eskişehir.
• Demirbilek, M., & Bakioğlu, A. (2019). Okul müdür yardımcılarının görevlerinden ayrılma nedenleri [Reasons of the assistant principals quitting their duties]. Ankara Üniversitesi Eğitim Bilimleri Fakültesi Dergisi, 52(3), 739-771.
• Ballet, K., & Kelchtermans, G. (2009). Struggling with workload: Primary teachers’ experience of intensification. Teaching Teacher Education Quarterly, 25(8), 1150-1157.
• Baltacı, A. (2017). Okul müdürlerlerinin iş yükünün performans düzeylerine etkisi [Effect of workload on school principals' performance levels]. Ağrı İbrahim Çeçen Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü Dergisi, 3(1), 101-121.
• Berntson, E., Wallin, L., & Härenstam, A. (2012). Typical situations for managers in the Swedish Public Sector: Cluster analysis of working conditions using the job demands-resources model. International Public Management Journal, 15(1), 100-130. doi:10.1080/10967494.2012.684026
• Bolat, O. (2011). İş yükü, iş kontrolü ve tükenmişlik ilişkisi [Workload, job control and burnout relationship]. Atatürk Üniversitesi İktisadi ve İdari Bilimler Dergisi, 25(2), 87-101. Borg Mark, G. (1993). Occupational stress and job satisfaction among school sdministrators. Journal of Educational Administration, 31(1). doi:10.1108/09578239310024692
• Bowling, N. A., Alarcon, G. M., Bragg, C. B., & Hartman, M. J. (2015). A meta-analytic examination of the potential correlates and consequences of workload. Work & Stress, 29(2), 95-113. doi:10.1080/02678373.2015.1033037
• Bowling, N. A., & Kirkendall, C. (2012). Workload: A review of potential causes, consequences, and interventions. In J. Houdmont, S. Leka, & R. Sinclair (Eds.), Contemporary occupational health psychology: Global perspectives on research and practice (Vol. 2, pp. 221-238). Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell.
• Brauckmann, S., Thiel, F., Kuper, H., Tarkian, J., & Schwarz, A.(2015). No time to manage? The trade-off between relevant tasks and actual priorities of school leaders in Germany. International Journal of Educational Management, 29(6), 749-765.
• Caplan, R. D. (1971). Organizational stress and individual strain: A social-psychological study of risk factors in coronary heart disease among administrators, engineers, and scientists. Retrieved from https://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=19720005404
• Cerit, Y., & Özdemir, T. (2015). Sınıf öğretmenlerinin iş yükü algıları ile işten ayrılma niyetleri arasındaki ilişki [The relationship between classroom teachers' workload perceptions and their intention to quit]. International Journal of Human Sciences, 12(2), 626-637.
• Chesley, N. (2010). Technology use and employee assessments of work effectiveness, workload, and pace of life. Information, Communication Society, 13(4), 485-514.
• Cooper, C. L., & Marshall, J. (1976). Occupational sources of stress: A review of the literature relating to coronary heart disease and mental ill health. Journal of occupational psychology, 49(1), 11-28.
• Crawford, M. (2012). Novice head teachers in Scotland: Competing expectations. School Leadership & Management, 32(3), 279-290. doi:10.1080/13632434.2012.669365
• Creswell, J. W., & Poth, C. N. (2017). Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five approaches. Los Angeles: Sage publications.
• Curry, R., Jex, H., Levison, W., & Stassen, H. (1979). Final report of control engineering group. In N. Moray (Ed.), Mental workload (Vol. 8, pp. 235-252). Boston, MA: Springer.
• Çelikten, M. (2004). Bir okul müdürünün günlüğü [Diary of a school principal]. Fırat Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi, 14(1), 123-135.
• Çınkır, S. (2010). Problems of primary school headteachers: Problem sources and support strategies. Elementary Education Online, 9(3), 1027-1036.
• Day, A., Paquet, S., Scott, N., & Hambley, L. (2012). Perceived information and communication technology (ICT) demands on employee outcomes: The moderating effect of organizational ICT support. Journal of occupational health psychology, 17(4), 473-491. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0029837
• de Zwart, B. C., Frings-Dresen, M. H., & van Dijk, F. J. (1996). Physical workload and the ageing worker: a review of the literature. International archives of occupational environmental health, 68(1), 1-12.
• Demerouti, E., Bakker, A. B., & Bulters, A. J. (2004). The loss spiral of work pressure, work–home interference and exhaustion: Reciprocal relations in a three-wave study. Journal of Vocational behavior, 64(1), 131-149.
• Demirkasımoğu, N. (2015). Kamu okulu yöneticilerinin iş yükü kaynaklari, sorunları ve yönetilebilirliği [Public school principals workload resources, problems and manageability]. Route Educational and Social Science Journal, 2(4), 345-364.
• Demirtaş, H., & Özer, N. (2014). Okul müdürlerinin bakış açısıyla okul müdürlüğü [School principal from the perspective of school principals]. Kastamonu Eğitim Dergisi, 22(1), 1-24.
• Dimmock, C., & Walker, A. (2000). Globalisation and societal culture: Redefining schooling and school leadership in the twenty-first century. Compare: A Journal of Comparative International Education, 30(3), 303-312.
• Duxbury, L., Lyons, S., & Higgins, C. (2008). Too much to do, and not enough time: An examination of role overload. In K. Korabik, D. Lero, S., & D. L. Whitehead (Eds.), Handbook of work-family integration (pp. 125-140). USA: Academic Press.
• Dwyer, D. J., & Ganster, D. C. (1991). The effects of job demands and control on employee attendance and satisfaction. 12(7), 595-608. doi:10.1002/job.4030120704
• Easthope, C., & Easthope, G. (2000). Intensification, extension and complexity of teachers' workload. British Journal of Sociology of Education, 21(1), 43-58.
• Elloy, D. F., & Smith, C. R. (2003). Patterns of stress, work-family conflict, role conflict, role ambiguity and overload among dual-career and single-career couples: An Australian study. Cross Cultural Management: An International Journal, 10(1), 55-66.
• Fong, K. (2004). New development concerning the effect of work overload on employees. Management Research News, 27(4/5), 9-16. doi:10.1108/01409170410784419
• French, J. R. P., & Caplan, R. D. (1972). Organization stress and strain. In A. J. Marrow (Ed.), The failure of success. New York: Amacom.
• Geurts, S. A., Kompier, M. A., Roxburgh, S., & Houtman, I. L. (2003). Does work–home interference mediate the relationship between workload and well-being? Journal of Vocational Behavior, 63(3), 532-559.
• Goh, Z., Ilies, R., & Wilson, K. S. (2015). Supportive supervisors improve employees' daily lives: The role supervisors play in the impact of daily workload on life satisfaction via work–family conflict. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 89, 65-73.
• Greenglass, E. R., Burke, R. J., & Fiksenbaum, L. (2001). Workload and burnout in nurses. Journal of community applied social psychology, 11(3), 211-215.
• Greenhaus, J. H., Parasuraman, S., Granrose, C. S., Rabinowitz, S., & Beutell, N. J. (1989). Sources of work-family conflict among two-career couples. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 34(2), 133-153.
• Gryna, F. M. (2004). Work overload!: Redesigning jobs to minimize stress and burnout. Milwaukee: ASQ Quality Press.
• Hauseman, D. C., Pollock, K., & Wang, F. (2017). Inconvenient, but essential: Impact and influence of school-community involvement on principals' work and workload. School Community Journal, 27(1), 83-105.
• House, R. J., & Rizzo, J. R. (1972). Role conflict and ambiguity as critical variables in a model of organizational behavior. Organizational Behavior Human Performance, 7(3), 467-505.
• Hsieh, A. T. (2004). Participative customers as partial employees and service provider workload. International Journal of Service Industry Management, 15(2), 187-199. doi:10.1108/09564230410532501
• Huey, F. M., & Wickens, C. D. (1993). Workload transition: Implications for individual and team performance. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.
• Ilies, R., Huth, M., Ryan, A. M., & Dimotakis, N. (2015). Explaining the links between workload, distress, and work–family conflict among school employees: Physical, cognitive, and emotional fatigue. Journal of Educational Psychology, 107(4), 1136-1149. doi:10.1037/edu0000029
• Ilies, R., Schwind, K. M., Wagner, D. T., Johnson, M. D., DeRue, D. S., & Ilgen, D. R. (2007). When can employees have a family life? The effects of daily workload and affect on work-family conflict and social behaviors at home. Journal of Applied Psychology, 92(5), 1368-1379.
• Janssen, P. P., Peeters, M. C., de Jonge, J., Houkes, I., & Tummers, G. E. (2004). Specific relationships between job demands, job resources and psychological outcomes and the mediating role of negative work–home interference. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 65(3), 411-429.
• Jex, S. M. (1998). Stress and job performance: Theory, research and implications for managerial practice. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
• Karabulut, A. (2015). Okul yöneticilerinin yönetici kaygı düzeyleri ile çatışma yönetimi stratejileri arasındaki ilişki [The relationship between school principals' anxiety levels and conflict management strategies]. (Master's thesis), Erciyes University, Kayseri.
• Keser, Z., & Gedikoğlu, T. (2008). Ortaöğretim okul müdürlerinin yetki ve sorumluluklarını kullanma derecelerinin belirlenmesi [Determining the degree of using secondary school principals' powers and responsibilities]. Uluslararası İnsan Bilimleri Dergisi, 5(2), 1-23.
• Klocko, B. A., & Wells, C. M. (2015). Workload Pressures of Principals:A Focus on Renewal, Support, and Mindfulness.Nassp Bulletin, 99(4), 332-355. doi:10.1177/0192636515619727
• Kuijer, P. P. F., Visser, B., & Kemper, H. C. (1999). Job rotation as a factor in reducing physical workload at a refuse collecting department. Ergonomics, 42(9), 1167-1178. Leithwood, K., & Azah, V. (2014). Secondary principals’ and vice-principals’ workload study. Retrieved from Ontario: http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/policyfunding/memos/nov2014/FullElementaryReportOctober7_EN.pdf
• Marshall, C., & Rossman, G. (2010). Designing Qualitative Research (Vol. 2). Thousand Oaks, CA.: Sage.
• McCormick, E. J., & Sanders, M. S. (1992). Human factors in engineering and design (Vol. 7). New York: McGraw-Hill Inc.
• McGuinn, P. (2012). Stimulating Reform:Race to the Top, Competitive Grants and the Obama Education Agenda. Educational Policy, 26(1), 136-159. doi:10.1177/0895904811425911
• Miller, P. (2015). Leading remotely: Exploring the experiences of principals in rural and remote school communities in Jamaica. International Journal of Whole Schooling, 11(1), 35-53.
• Naz, S., & Sulman, N. (2012). Factors perceived by special schools’ principals related with their job satisfaction. World Applied Sciences Journal, 19(2), 174-182.
• Oplatka, I. (2017). Principal workload: Components, determinants and coping strategies in an era of standardization and accountability. Journal of Educational Administration, 55(5), 552-568.
• Özer, N., & Kış, A. (2015). Okul müdürlerinin zaman yönetimi becerileri ile yaşadıkları iş aile çatışması arasındaki ilişki [The relationship between school principals' time management skills and their work-family conflict]. Eğitim ve İnsani Bilimler Dergisi: Teori Ve Uygulama, 6(11), 103-122.
• Patton, M. Q. (1987). How to use qualitative methods in evaluation. Newsbury Park, London, New Delhi: Sage Publications Inc.
• Poirel, E., Lapointe, P., & Yvon, F. (2012). Coping with administrative constraints by Quebec school principals. Canadian Journal of School Psychology, 27(4), 302-318. doi:10.1177/0829573512461131
• Pollock, K., & Hauseman, D. C. (2019). The use of e-mail and principals’ work: A double-edged sword. Leadership and Policy in Schools, 18(3), 382-393. doi:10.1080/15700763.2017.1398338
• Rowley, G., & Purcell, K. (2001). ‘As cooks go, she went’: is labour churn inevitable? International Journal of Hospitality Management, 20(2), 163-185. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/S0278-4319(00)00050-5
• Royal, L. (2008). Les tensions de rôle chez les directrices et les directeurs adjoints d'école. (Doctoral thesis), Université de Sherbrooke, Montréal, Québec, Canada.
• Rubin, B. A., & Brody, C. J. (2005). Contradictions of commitment in the new economy: Insecurity, time, and technology. Social Science Research, 34(4), 843-861.
• Rutherford, S. (2001). `Are you going home already?'. Time & Society, 10(2-3), 259-276. doi:10.1177/0961463x01010002006
• Saidel, J. R., & Cour, S. (2003). Information technology and the voluntary sector workplace. Nonprofit Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 32(1), 5-24.
• Saidun, R., Tahir, L. M., & Musah, M. B. (2015). Problems faced by novice principals in Malaysia: An exploration study. Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences, 6(4), 562-569.
• Schiller, J. (2003). Working with ICT. Journal of Educational Administration, 41(2), 171-185. doi:10.1108/09578230310464675
• Starr, K. (2011). Principals and the politics of resistance to change. Educational Management Administration Leadership, 39(6), 646-660.
• Starr, K., & White, S. (2008). The small rural school principalship: Key challenges and cross-school responses. Journal of Research in Rural Education, 23(5), 1-12.
• Strauss, A. L., & Corbin, J. (1998). Basics of qualitative research: Techniques and procedures for developing grounded theory (Vol. 2). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
• Şahin, B. (2007). Okul yöneticilerinin günlük mesailerinde yaptıkları işlere genel bir bakış [An overview of the work that school principals do in their daily work]. (Master's thesis), Afyon Kocatepe Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü, Afyonkarahisar.
• Timperley, H., & Robinson, V. (2000). Workload and the professional culture of teachers. Educational Management Administration, 28(1), 47-62.
• Turan, S., & Yalçın, G. (2015). Okul yöneticilerinin yaptığı ve yapmak istediği işler ile iş doyumları arasındaki ilişkinin incelenmesi [Examining the relationship between the work and job satisfaction of school principals and what they want to do]. Kalem Eğitim ve İnsan Bilimleri Dergisi, 5(2), 11-34.
• Ural, A. (2002). Okul müdürlerinin yönetsel stres kaynakları [Managerial stress sources of school principals]. Abant İzzet Baysal Üniversitesi Eğitim Fakültesi Dergisi, 2(1), 74-84.
• Van der Doef, M., & Maes, S. (1999). The job demand-control (-support) model and psychological well-being: A review of 20 years of empirical research. Work & Stress, 13(2), 87-114. doi:10.1080/026783799296084
• Wells, C. M. (2013). Educational leaders describe a job too big for one: Stress reduction in the midst of leading. AASA journal of scholarship practice, 10(3), 32-46.
• West, D. L., Peck, C. M., Reitzug, U. C., & Crane, E. A. (2014). Accountability, autonomy and stress: Principal responses to superintendent change in a large US urban school district. School Leadership & Management, 34(4), 372-391. doi:10.1080/13632434.2014.928683
• Wickens, C. D. (1979). Measures of workload, stress and secondary tasks. In N. Moray (Ed.), Mental Workload: Its Theory and Measurement (pp. 79-101). New York: Springer. Wickens, C. D. (2008). Multiple resources and mental workload. Human Factors, 50(3), 449-455.
• Wu, H.-T. (2005). Relationship between school principals' workload and their quality of life in Taiwan. (Doktora tezi), The University of Montana, Montana.
• Wylie, C. (1997). At the Centre of the Web: The Role of the New Zealand Primary School Principal within a Decentralized Education System (1877140120). Retrieved from New Zealand: https://www.nzcer.org.nz/system/files/1864_0.pdf
• Yıldırım, A., & Şimşek, H. (2011). Sosyal bilimlerde nitel araştırma yöntemleri [Qualitative research methods in the social sciences]. Ankara: Seçkin Yayıncılık.
• Yildirim, F., & Dinc, M. S. (2019). Factors influencing burnout of the principals: a pilot study in Flemish schools of Belgium. Economic Research-Ekonomska Istraživanja, 32(1), 3538-3553. doi:10.1080/1331677X.2019.1660200
• Zunker, V. (2008). Career, work, and mental health: Integrating career and personal counseling. Los Angeles, CA: Sage.