Unmasking the Invisible: The Emotional Work in Leading Australian Schools
For years, school principals have carried a weight that is rarely documented in job descriptions or policy frameworks: the intensive emotional management required to lead communities through increasingly volatile times. Our four-year research project (2022–2026), Invisible Labour: Principals’ emotional labour in volatile times, has sought to understand and highlight these aspects of principals’ work. The project is a collaboration between Monash (Professor Jane Wilkinson, Professor Lucas Walsh, myself, and Tim Delany), Deakin (Professor Amanda Keddie), and the University of Sydney (Associate Professor Christine Grice). The research includes over 280 critical incident testimonies from 248 public-school principals, alongside stakeholder interviews, a policy audit, and four case studies. The findings suggest that the emotional demands of the principalship have reached a critical juncture, and that we should be looking at the systemic conditions of support for principals to ensure the sustainability of the profession.
The Reality of the "Professional Mask"
An interesting aspect of the project has included examining the "professional mask" that principals use to manage the emotional labour of their work. This concept of ‘wearing a mask’ is one that we have adapted from the work of Arlie Hochschild (1983). Principals described routinely engaging in what we understood to be "surface acting". This involves consciously masking frustration with a calm exterior, for example when talking with an upset parent. They also shared examples of "deep acting," where they suppress, or detach from, their own genuine emotions (often fear or distress) to project stability to their staff, students and communities. While this detachment is often necessary, it can come at a significant cost, contributing to emotional exhaustion, alienation, and burnout.
Further, we heard from principals about the bodily impacts of the emotional labour. Emotional stress is not just psychological; it manifests as sleeplessness, fatigue, chronic illness, and even cardiac events. Many principals described their bodies acting as "human shields" during violent encounters, yet this visceral, physical aspect of the role remains largely unacknowledged.
Leading as "First Responders" in a through challenging situations
The Australian Principals’ Occupational Health, Safety and Wellbeing survey found that in 2024, 54% of principals surveyed reported being threatened with violence and 50% had been subjected to physical violence, an increase of 82% since 2011 (Dicke et al., 2025). Our research suggests that violence is being "normalised" as just part of the job and that principals are regularly effectively serving as first responders in times of crisis. They are responding to violence, trauma, and crises with similar urgency and intensity to police, paramedics, and emergency managers.
Further situations of violence and crisis are increasingly common as greater volatility is fuelled by broader social factors: the climate crisis, increasing economic inequality, the rise of social media-driven polarisation and reduced civility.
Feeling "Hung Out to Dry"
Despite escalating risks, over a third of principals surveyed expressed dissatisfaction with their employer’s support. A recurring theme in the testimonies is the feeling of being "hung out to dry" by departments that are struggling to provide adequate resourcing and at times, are more concerned with reputational risk and compliance than the safety of their frontline leaders.
Our study documented the distress caused when systemic constraints and institutional failures prevent principals from acting in alignment with their ethical responsibilities. Further, when principals feel alone and unsupported during a crisis, their stress is increased and the outcomes are less positive.
The Urgent Need for Policy Reform
Our research adds to the evidence that something needs to change. These are some of the recommendations we discuss in our reports:
-
Full Funding: Achieving 100% of the School Resource Standard (SRS) for all public schools to provide the frontline support services (psychologists, social workers) that currently fall to the principal.
-
AITSL Standard Review: Updating the Australian Professional Standard for Principals to explicitly value and recognise the emotional demands and "first responder" nature of the role.
-
Clinical Supervision: Implementing funded, professional/clinical supervision for all principals, provided by qualified persons who are not their line managers.
-
Psychosocial Safety: Greater resourcing for workplace health and safety controls that specifically address psychosocial hazards in schools.
-
Workload Reduction: A root-and-branch audit of policies to significantly reduce the compliance-heavy workload that distracts from educational leadership.
Final Reflections
The commitment to students and communities that Australian school principals demonstrate is the heartbeat of the education system and a significant factor in healthy and thriving local communities. Our project advocates that we recognise and support this important work so that it no longer comes at the expense of the health and wellbeing of our school leaders.
We encourage all school leaders to read these reports and use them as a tool for advocacy within your networks. Together, we can push for a system that cares for its leaders as much as those leaders care for their schools.
Access the Full Research Reports:
Visit the project website at monash.edu/education/research/projects/school-principals-emotional-labour-in-volatile-times.
References:
Dicke, T., Kidson, P., Marsh, H., (2025). The Australian Principal Occupational Health, Safety, and Wellbeing Survey (IPPE Report). Sydney: Institute for Positive Psychology and Education, Australian Catholic University.
Hochschild, A. R. (1983). The managed heart: Commercialization of human feeling. University of California Press.