This study examines professional standards policy documents for teachers and school leaders in Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States of America to ascertain where and how the concepts of wellbeing and resilience are addressed and enacted within each nation's policy. Eight policy documents comprising four professional…

This study aimed to explore how educational leaders in England experience and promote their own well-being. To address this, five semi-structured interviews were carried out with educational leaders who expressed that they had personally experienced high levels of well-being. Using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA), four themes were…

Alternative provision (AP) caters for pupils marginalised and excluded from mainstream schooling. In England, it is conceptualised in policy as providing education to support behavioural improvements (pupils are directed off-site to improve behaviour). There is limited research on the experiences of those who work in AP settings. That which does…

This paper reports on factors affecting the working lives of practitioners in health and education in the UK. The context is the increasing evidence of low recruitment, low retention rates and a high incidence of stress amongst expert practitioners in these two public institutions. Similar patterns of practitioner response indicate the systemic…

Prior to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, England faced a considerable teacher recruitment and retention challenge. The last ten years have been characterised by insufficient numbers of new teachers joining the profession and an increasing proportion leaving the state sector, particularly in secondary schools. This research is designed to…

On May 10th, 2020 the Prime Minister announced a phased return of some children to school in England from June 1st. Schools had been closed to all but vulnerable and keyworker children since March 20th, meaning that most children have been educated at home for a period of 10 weeks, and some year groups are not expected to return to school until…

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted on all areas of society, including education. On 20 March 2020, the British Government ordered all schools to close to all pupils, except vulnerable children and the children of keyworkers (such as those working in public health, transport and supplying food). National examinations were also cancelled. As a…

While there are significant differences between England and Scotland in the politics, the policy environment and the management of schools, leadership development both north and south of the border is charged with addressing what has been termed a recruitment and retention "crisis". An emerging phenomenon in both jurisdictions is that of…

In an age of greater government control and direction of schools, and yet simultaneously a greater devolution of responsibility, there is an international literature suggesting that many in leadership positions feel so pressured that they are seeking early retirement, or simply not coming forward in the first place (e.g. Gronn, 2003; Fullan,…

Based on interview data with 39 secondary headteachers located in North East England, identifies aspects of principals' work that make for job satisfaction or dissatisfaction. Considers the relationship of those aspects and, building on other researchers' work, presents a unique model of job satisfaction that stresses personal needs and values and…

Summarizes a study that surveyed all the deputy headteachers in North Kent, England, to ascertain how much noncontact time they were allowed during the normal school day to carry out their increased managerial responsibilities. Results showed that there is so little noncontact time allocated to assistant principals that it is almost impossible for…

Explores perceived stress and job satisfaction among 36 primary British headteachers. Around half reported high levels of occupational stress; half were satisfied with their work. Highest satisfaction levels came from personal and organizational factors. School organization was a source of stress and satisfaction. Social support was perceived as…

This article investigates the perceptions of English headteachers to questions addressing the setting of goals and the effects of external pressure on headteachers. The research utilizes semi-structured interviews with headteachers from a variety of contexts. These interviews were used to write individual headteacher "portraits", which…

There is extensive evidence of a "glass ceiling" for women across the labour market. Though schools have widely been described as "feminized" work environments, the under-representation of women at school management level is well established. Based on a study of women teachers' careers and promotion in the English school sector…