Over the past decade, researchers have identified several keys to successful educational change (Osher et al., 2007; Miller, 2013; Mahfouz et al., 2018). They have demonstrated that the commitment and active support of the principals is the main predictor for promoting positive change in school settings and ensuring outcomes for students (Leithwood et al., 2004). According to Waters and colleagues (2004), leadership is one of the two most critical factors for student achievement, closely following teacher quality.

The relationships that principals establish in schools strongly and directly affect teachers’ attitudes, which define the school climate (Price, 2012). The development of leaders’ social-emotional competencies (SECs) becomes essential to effective leadership and school improvement (Patti et al., 2015; Mahfouz et al., 2018).

Additionally, school leaders work in rapidly changing and demanding environments. The unprecedented challenges posed by COVID-19 pandemic, along with the national cries for equity and racial justice, underscore more than ever the crucial role that school leadership plays in creating a caring and culturally responsive school culture. In order to lead and thrive, school leaders need time and support to develop their social-emotional competencies to manage job-related stress, build trust, and model caring and culturally responsive behaviors. They need to utilize strategies and develop skills that enable them to interact with others consciously, with full awareness of how their actions impact themselves, others, and their environments. Practicing mindfulness could be a valuable tool for principals; it enables them to contemplate the thoughts and sensations they experience, remains aware and attentive, and break habitual think-feel-act patterns, which may cultivate a depth in the social-emotional competencies fostering resonant leadership (Goleman, Boyatzis, and McKee, 2013). Thus, in this study, we will examine whether the Soul of Leadership Program, an SEL-based program for principals, can improve principals’ social-emotional competence and well-being.

The Program

The Soul of Leadership Courage, Presence, and Integrity (SoL) is a US-based unique professional development program that gives school administrators the opportunity to reflect on their lives and work through contemplative and reflective practices drawn from the Center of Courage and Renewal and the fields of mindfulness, social-emotional learning, neuroscience, and the arts. The program helps leaders integrate reflective practices into the routine of administrative team and staff meetings and apply these practices to their daily work throughout the school. It is designed to reduce stress and enhance effectiveness for school administrators by introducing them to strategies that elicit positive emotions through arts. The program enhances participants’ capacity as leaders, provides a lived experience of the process of building relational trust, and offers strategies to help strengthen SEL and wellbeing in their adult community. SoL also increases its capacity to facilitate challenging and necessary conversations around issues of systemic racism. The program is manualized (Leading Together: Strengthening Relational Trust in Schools guidebook); it follows the best practices in adult learning and blends direct instruction, small group discussions, dyadic interactions, reflection, and experiential exercises.

Theoretical Framework:

This research study is informed by two theoretical frameworks that justify the importance of leadership as a critical factor for school improvement: the theory of transformational learning and the pro-social school leader model. In the theory of transformative learning (Mezirow, 1991), adult experiences are conceptualized as having the power to both transform one’s perspectives and assumptions and change one’s behavior. The pro-social school leader model (Mahfouz et al., 2018) illustrates how cultivating the principals’ social and emotional competencies promotes a positive school environment, which in turn influences social, emotional, and academic outcomes for teachers and students.

The program included four 2-hour & 15 minute whole group sessions and three 90 minute small group sessions that were spread from January to June. Due to the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic, all sessions occurred virtually. The cohort included 43 participants divided into two groups (cohort 3A, n=23; cohort 3B, n=20) from Massachusetts school districts. The complete corpus of data includes: (a) participant evaluation surveys about SoL program completed at the end of the 8 whole group sessions with 43 participants; (b) 18 audio-recorded pre- and post- interviews with 18 participants, transcribed verbatim in their entirety; (c) 8 2-hour & 15-minute whole group sessions of SoL program captured in narrative notes; (d) baseline and post self-report surveys conducted before the start of the program and at the completion of the program; (e) 6 90-minute shadowing observations of small group sessions recorded in memos. participant evaluation surveys. After each whole group session, participants were asked to complete a brief evaluation survey. The survey included quantitative satisfaction and applicability questions. Interviews. Two researchers conducted semi-structured interviews pre- and post the program implementation guided by particular topics and general questions (Kvale, 2006). Participants were invited to volunteer and so we only received 18 participants interested in either the pre or the post interviews. These interviews lasted between 45 minutes and 1 hour. Surveys. Participants were invited to fill out a survey at two points in time: pre-program baseline in January and a post-program implementation in June. The measurement plan included a variety of multi-source instruments directly tied to the expected outcomes of the SoL program. 1. Demographics. We asked key principal demographics (e.g. gender, racial/ethnic background, years of experience in current role, years of experience in current school). 2. Five Facets of Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ, short version 15 items] The instrument includes five subscales: Observing, Describing, Acting with Awareness, Non-Judging of inner experience, and Non-Reactivity to inner experience. The 15-item FFMQ (FFMQ-15) was developed by Baer et al. (2008) and includes three items for each facet. 3. Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI, Abbreviated 9 items). MBI is designed to assess burnout syndrome in educators, as characterized by high levels of emotional exhaustion and depersonalization and low levels of personal accomplishment. 4. Psychological Capital Questionnaire (PCQ, 24 items). PCQ includes four subscales: efficacy, hope, resilience, and optimism, and each subscale is measured through three items.

Average satisfaction and applicability ratings. The average satisfaction and applicability was high across all three sessions. Generally, SoL was well received by the participants. A majority reported that they were highly satisfied (66.8%) or satisfied (30%) with the overall program. 97% reported that they strongly agreed or agreed that the facilitators enhanced their experience. Interviews. Work-life balance was predictably a resulting source of tension and predominantly identified as a source of stress. Though many leaders were stoic in their narratives, stress and isolation nevertheless surfaced as repeated themes in the interviews. Isolation was particularly evident as leaders described their difficulty assessing others’ perceptions of them and in descriptors of unreasonable expectations to meet everyone’s needs. Many leaders acknowledged a toll on their mental or physical well-being from serving in the job. Though most leaders did not explicitly use mindfulness terminology, their reflexive orientation was evident as was the need to center one’s self and manage emotions. Some leaders engaged in mindfulness practices such as meditation or yoga. Having supervisors or work colleagues who offered accommodations and understanding was also noted as helpful. Surveys. Three of the subscales (hope, optimism, and exhuastion) had statisically significant improvements betweent the pre and post-test. The largest changes occurred on the pyscological capital inventory with hope and optimism both having an increase of around 10%. The exhuastion scale also decreased by a similar magnitude of around 10%. Depersonilaztion decreased meaning that principals felt more connected. The changes on the mindfulness inventory were not as large, but all five subscales showed improvement. We find all of these results promising, especially given the challenging context of the last school year for principals during the Covid-19 pandemic.

References: Goleman, D., Boyatzis, R., & McKee, A. (2013). Primal leadership: Unleashing the power of emotional intelligence. Harvard Business Press. Jennings, P. A., & Greenberg, M. T. (2009). The prosocial classroom: Teacher social and emotional competence in relation to student and classroom outcomes. Review of educational research, 79(1), 491-525. Kabat-Zinn, J. (1994). Wherever you go, there you are: Mindfulness meditation in everyday life. Hyperion. Mezirow, J. (1991). Transformative dimensions of adult learning. Jossey-Bass, 350 Sansome Street, San Francisco, CA 94104-1310.