Look inside a well-run school and at the helm you will find school leaders who have the specialized managerial and organizational skills needed to operate an educational institution. These professionals handle a broad range of responsibilities that include hiring instructional staff, developing school budgets, overseeing student records, developing curriculum that meets state standards of learning, and other functions requiring extensive expertise in school administration. This is the “technical” side of operating a school, that aspect of school administration where decisions are made on how processes can be streamlined to become more efficient and how resources can be distributed to better facilitate desired student outcomes.
But there is a human side to running a school, one that depends on school leaders having the “soft skills” required to establish a relationship with teachers that is built on trust and open communication. One where teachers find empathy from their school leaders and feel that they are supported. One that facilitates a positive and supportive school culture where staff and students alike flourish to their full potential. To be successful in creating this type of school atmosphere, it is vital that education leaders possess emotional intelligence. Farnoosh Shahrokhi, associate professor and Academic Program Co-Coordinator in the Education Leadership Program at George Mason University, recently discussed the importance of emotional intelligence in school leaders.
Empathy and Self-Awareness
“Walking in someone else’s shoes.” This familiar phrase is a metaphor that captures the key essence of emotional intelligence—namely, the ability of an individual to be self-aware of their own emotions and to have empathy allowing them to understand the emotions and feelings of other people, especially those contending with difficult circumstances. Because working as a school leader is often thought of as having “a people’s job,” possessing these personal traits can help professionals in the field of education leadership engage more effectively with teachers, students, and families of students in a variety of situations. These scenarios might include resolving potential conflicts, ameliorating resistance to new school policies that may initially be unpopular, ensuring that mental health resources and support are made available to school community members dealing with stress, or any other situation that might have significant implications for the school community.
Engaging in “active listening” can enhance emotional intelligence.
The practice of “active listening,” where an individual gives their full and undivided attention to the person with whom they are conversing, is an important way in which school leaders can enhance their emotional intelligence skills. When a school leader engages in active listening while talking to a teacher, they will gain a deeper insight into any problem or challenge the teacher may have encountered in their classroom. In turn, this will help school leaders provide more informed guidance, customized for that educator, on how they can try a different teaching strategy that may yield better outcomes for their students. A school leader with strong emotional intelligence will have the soft skills necessary to offer that teacher constructive suggestions in a non-judgmental way. The result is that the teacher will feel “heard,” and they will be more apt to accept feedback in a positive manner, one where they do not feel they are being personally criticized. With the large numbers of educators leaving the profession due to burnout and their perception that school leaders are indifferent to their well-being, a compassionate approach to teacher supervision and evaluation as described here can help reduce the rate of teacher attrition that has left many schools struggling to fill instructional staff vacancies.
Self-Regulation of Emotions
It is important for education leaders to learn how to self-regulate their emotions. Consider the example of a school leader who is experiencing negative emotions because of something that happened outside of the workplace. The competing demands placed upon that education professional while on the job can exacerbate the negative emotions they are already feeling, and they may appear short-tempered or non-communicative. This can have an adverse impact on teachers and staff who react to social cues from the top.
Education experts say that a beneficial way in which school leaders can enhance the self-regulation of their emotions is through daily journaling. This can provide education leaders with the opportunity to reflect on their strengths, their weaknesses, and why they respond to events the way they do. Journaling allows school leaders a chance to increase their self-awareness, which is key to developing strong relationships with members of the school community.
Finding Ways to Invest in Teacher Well-Being
It is second nature for education leaders to advocate for the allocation of every available school resource to programs and services that will directly benefit the students. However, an education leader with strong emotional intelligence knows that investments in teachers designed to promote the well-being of educators are an essential part of creating a safe and supportive school environment that will facilitate student success. Along these lines, there are some steps that school leaders can take to improve the working conditions and well-being of teachers—some of which cost little to no money to implement. All that is required is some ingenuity to meet the challenge.
For example, education leaders can make teacher attendance at non-essential school meetings optional instead of mandatory. Doing so can provide teachers with additional lesson planning time during regular school hours. This will reduce or eliminate the amount of unfinished work that a teacher brings home. Small but significant actions such as this can demonstrate the commitment of school leadership to protecting the home and work life balance of teachers, and this can go a long way in building a strong relationship with instructional staff and improving their well-being.
To learn more about degree offerings in the Education Leadership Program at George Mason University, please visit the program website.