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ACU school principals survey warns ‘mass exodus’ likely as violence, threats and workloads intensify

Nearly 60 per cent of WA school leaders have reported being shoved, punched, bitten or kicked in the past year, prompting warnings of a “mass exodus” of experienced principals and deputies. The latest survey of Australian principals reveals attacks on WA leaders reached a record high, with 58.5 per cent being subjected to violence. Only the ACT (69.2 per cent) and Northern Territory (73.7 per cent) reported a higher rate of violent incidents than WA. The figure for threats of violence was even higher, at 62.4 per cent, with many of those threats coming from parents. The Principal Occupational Health, Safety and Wellbeing Survey released on Monday by Australian Catholic University also found worsening levels of anxiety and depression among school leaders. More than half of the 2182 respondents revealed they were considering quitting their jobs. An alarming 45 per cent of school leaders submitted responses that triggered a “red flag” email signalling they were risking their health and urging them to seek help. WA had the second-highest rate of red flags, with 51.7 per cent of principals receiving warning notices. Offensive behaviours towards principals — including violent threats, actual violence and gossip and slander — soared to their highest levels since the survey began in 2011. Nationally, 54.5 per cent of school leaders reported being subjected to violent threats, 49.6 per cent had been physically attacked and 57.4 per cent had encountered gossip and slander. “Australia’s school leadership profession is at a breaking point,” the report said. “Without immediate interventions, we risk a mass exodus of experienced school leaders, further straining an already overburdened education system.” ACU investigator and former school principal Paul Kidson said the survey showed too many principals were battling workloads and conditions that would not be tolerated in other workplaces. He said types of violence being reported could range from pushing and shoving to dealing with children biting, kicking or throwing items — including desks. He had experienced parents thumping desks in anger, poking him in the chest or standing over him while making threats. “The value of the longitudinal approach we have in this survey is it shows how things are drifting over time, and with so many of those really critical offensive behaviours, they’re drifting in the wrong direction,” he said. “The root causes, often, of those behaviours is a lack of respect, a lack of courtesy and a lack of willingness to be able to work constructively in partnership.” Associate Professor Kidson said all school systems had complaint handling policies in place. “Increasingly, it seems a number of parents and caregivers say ‘well, that doesn’t apply to me, I’ll just say whatever I feel like’, with a sense of immunity from any consequence,” he said. “We don’t expect this in any other type of workplace.” WA Secondary School Executives Association president Melissa Gillett said it was worrying that more than half of school principals had reported being physically assaulted in the past year. “Schools do everything they can to prevent student violence, which is almost always a reflection of violence in their communities,” she said. “Violence is never OK, but the amount of parent violence against principals is really concerning.” Ms Gillett said the survey results indicated that ongoing attempts to put in place initiatives to reduce violence in schools were not working. “Principals want to educate kids, they don’t want to be assaulted at work,” she said. “If steps are not put in place, there will be even more principals and deputies walking away from the job.” WA Primary Principals Association president Niel Smith said the cumulative impact of rising aggression, growing workloads and a lack of resourcing was placing immense pressure on principals’ ability to lead educational improvement in their schools. “There is over a decade’s worth of data from this survey that shows levels of violence, aggression and burnout are increasing, and the percentage of school leaders who are considering resigning is also increasing,” he said. “This is going to leave a significant leadership gap in our schools. “For the second year in a row, more than half of WA’s school leaders received ‘red flag’ emails from the researchers, alerting them to the fact their health and wellbeing is at severe risk and they need to seek support.” Mr Smith said principals endured aggression and threats of violence from parents as well as students. “Students who are often in a fight or flight mode and lash out, or parents who are dissatisfied with a particular outcome and see threat-making as a reasonable response,” he said. “We are seeing an increase in violence, threats and aggression in all parts of society, but at some stage it has become accepted that it’s ‘just part of the job’, when you work in education.” The researchers called on school systems to intensify efforts to slash administrative burdens and improve support for school leaders to combat inappropriate behaviour from parents and students.

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ACU school principals survey warns ‘mass exodus’ likely as violence, threats and workloads intensify

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The West Australian exclusiveACU school principals survey warns ‘mass exodus’ likely as violence, threats and workloads intensify

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ACU school principals survey warns ‘mass exodus’ likely as violence, threats and workloads intensify