Helping principals flourish - Education Matters

“The Flourish Project is a collaboration between Dr Adam Fraser Consulting, Deakin University Business School and The Shoalhaven Primary Principal’s Council, designed to improve the performance and wellbeing of school principals. Dr Fraser tells Education Matters of the project’s genesis, achievements and why he thinks it can help principals thrive professionally, physically and mentally.

In February, the 2017 Australian Principal Occupational Health, Safety and Wellbeing Survey was released, reporting the latest annual figures on the state of our school leaders in a project that has run since 2011 and in which approximately half of the country’s principals have taken part.

The respondents reported high levels of job demands (1.5 times that of the general population), especially emotional demands and emotional labour. This correlated with higher levels of burnout, symptoms of stress, difficulty sleeping, cognitive stress, somatic and depressive symptoms.”