Managing Emotions and Coping in a Context of Work Intensification

Oct 15, 2026

Work intensification has intensified the emotional demands on Canadian school principals, especially in the context of leading a large urban secondary school. The case examines a principal’s heightened emotional experiences and presents coping strategies for emotion regulation in day-to-day leadership work. Teaching notes support participants in building leadership capacity through activities that identify and evaluate coping approaches, practice regulation strategies via role play, and engage in structured reflection grounded in current research.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages10

Reading Time25 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Case Narrative

A Day in the Life of a Contemporary Principal

Managing Emotions and Coping in a Context of Work Intensification Cameron Hauseman University of Manitoba Abstract Work intensification has heightened and accelerated the need for Canadian school principals to manage their emotions. This case explores the emotional aspects of a contemporary principal’s work in a large urban school and highlights effective coping strategies and approaches used to regulate her emotions. The teaching notes describe several activities that can strengthen leadership capacity and ensure that participants engage with current research on emotions and work intensification. Activities include identification and evaluation of coping, emotional regulation strategies, scripted and improvisational role play, and structured reflection. Keywords: school leadership, principals’work, work intensification, managing emotions, emotional aspects of leadership Case Narrative Stephanie is an experienced principal with nine years in the role at three different secondary schools. She is in her second year as the principal of Bayside Secondary School. Bayside is a large comprehensive secondary school with approximately 1,300 students enrolled. The school is located in Bridgetown—a highly diverse, urbanized, and rapidly expanding metropolitan centre with a total population of over 700,000 people. The municipal government views the community surrounding Bayside as a “priority neighbourhood” due to low socioeconomic status. Although Stephanie loves her job, her work continues to be impacted by several aspects of work intensification, a phenomenon experienced by principals across Canada (ATA 2017a; 2017b; Hauseman, Pollock & Wang, 2017; Pollock, 2016) . Work intensification limits Stephanie’s ability to effectively manage her emotions and perform as an instructional leader (Hauseman, 2018) . Specifically, Stephanie has noticed her workload intensifying over the past five years, as she is working longer hours and the pace of her work is increasing (ATA, 2012; Hauseman et al., 2017; Green, 2004; Pollock, 2016; Starr & White, 2009). Like many contemporary principals, the proliferation of information and communications technology (ICT) is another factor that intensifies Stephanie’s work—she responds to well over 100 emails, from a variety of stakeholders, every day (ATA 2017b; Pollock & Hauseman, 2018) . Managing emotions has likely always been a part of being an effective school leader (Pierce, 1935) . One result of work intensification in the past few decades, however, is that the emotional aspects of contemporary principals’ work are heightened (ATA, 2017a, 2017b; Pollock, 2016) . For principals to experience success in the role, they now must effectively manage their emotions (Hauseman, 2018) . The case below describes a typical day in Stephanie’s life as the principal of Bayside, which includes many of the emotionally challenging situations she encounters. This case demonstrates the impact of work intensification on the emotional aspects of principals’ work and documents strategies for coping and effectively managing emotions in a positive manner. A Day in the Life of a Contemporary Principal Stephanie wakes abruptly at 5:30 a.m. and immediately checks her email. Since putting her phone down at 10:30 p.m. the previous night, she has received 30 new emails. She sighs heavily and takes her phone into the bathroom. Although she tries to get at least seven hours of sleep each night, which her doctor suggested would help her better manage her stress and emotions, a solid seven hour rest is rare. Sitting groggily on her toilet, she reads message after message informing her that she needs to schedule follow-up meetings for numerous teacher performance appraisals, and complete various reports for the district office. Then Stephanie moves into her office and continues working on email until 6:30 a.m.“Crap,” she says, looking at the clock.“I need to pack my gym bag.” As she pulls on her pantyhose, she hears t

FAQs

How does work intensification affect the principal’s ability to manage emotions?

Work intensification increases workload and pace, making it harder for the principal to effectively manage her emotions while also performing her duties as an instructional leader.

What strategies does the case highlight for coping with emotionally challenging situations?

The case narrative and teaching notes describe activities such as identifying and evaluating coping strategies, using emotional regulation methods, practicing scripted and improvisational role play, and structured reflection.

What does a typical day in the principal’s life look like regarding emotional stressors?

The principal begins early by checking many emails, experiences anxiety when tasks fall behind, and uses coping supports such as therapy-informed “blow off steam” at the gym and music to manage emotionally draining situations.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Danger Angel