Stress and Job Satisfaction among Primary Headteachers: A question of balance

Interest in teacher stress has grown substantially in recent years. Although it is not a new phenomenon as the following quotation from The Schoolmaster (6 December 1879) demonstrates: The headmaster of Woolwich-Common Military College shot himself on Saturday last. His brother gave evidence to the effect that the deceased had often complained that the work was killing him, saying that the trouble of teaching did not affect him as much as the worry of management. This case gives rise to serious considerations.... What is not so evident to the general public is the distressing state of mind in which a large number carry out their work. Researchers have examined teacher stress in different phases of education, including both secondary school teachers (Capel, 1987; Sheffield et al., 1994) and primary school teachers (Borg et al., 1991; Boyle et al., 1995; Chaplain 1995a). By contrast there have been fewer studies of stress among headteachers—in particular among primary headteachers. The tasks that primary headteachers are expected to undertake have changed signifi-cantly in recent years (Southworth, 1995) and increasingly their work is perceived a