School Principals’ Work Intensification and Resilience - A Call for Structural Change

Oct 15, 2026

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, principals assumed increased responsibilities, yet resilience narratives often shift focus onto individuals. This conceptual article reviews interdisciplinary literature and inductively analyzes resilience narratives, emphasizing school leadership research. The article argues that without attention to structural conditions of work intensification, K–12 principals face adverse unintended consequences, worsening burnout risks and mental health stigma. It concludes with calls for structural changes.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages11

Reading Time28 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

COVID-19 and Work Intensification

Resilience Narratives and Mental Health

Methodology

Literature Review Approach

Coding and Research Databases

Defining Resilience

School Principals’Work Intensification and Resilience: A Call for Structural Change Katina Pollock, Ruth Nielsen, & Shankar Singh Western University Abstract Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, principals have taken on increased responsibilities. Principals who are thriving are praised for their resilience while those who are struggling are inundated with calls to build their resilience. In this conceptual article, we problematize the overemphasis on individual responsibility that is implicit in pro-resilience narratives. We reviewed the interdisciplinary literature and used an inductive approach to examine resilience narratives across historical and disciplinary arcs, with specific attention given to the school leadership literature. We argue that, within the context of this pro-resilience movement, if attention is not given to the structural conditions of work intensification, the education system is setting K–12 principals up to experience adverse unintended consequences. These consequences can worsen existing mental health issues, such as occupational burnout, or exacerbate mental health stigma. We conclude by suggesting that structural changes could disrupt this individualization of responsibility and overreliance on the personal resiliency of school principals. Keywords: resilience, school principals, educational leadership, COVID-19, work intensification, mental health stigma COVID-19 has exacerbated existing issues in all aspects of life, including school leadership. School principals’ work has broadened to include more active responsibility for the health and well-being of students and staff, while also managing the unprecedented switch to virtual schooling and back again (Anderson, 2020; Osmond-Johnson et al., 2020; Pollock, 2020; Ward, 2020). These responsibilities add to the existing trend of increasing work intensification and decreasing mental well-being among school principals (DeMatthews et al., 2021; Faubert et al., 2019; Pollock & Wang, 2020; Wang & Pollock, 2020). Principals who thrive in these conditions are being praised for their resilience, while those who do not are being called to cultivate resilience (Earp, 2020; Hudson et al., 2021; Kress, 2020; Kumar & Luthar, 2020). In this article we explore competing understandings of resilience across multiple disciplines and present some suggestions for structural change in light of the impact these understandings of resiliency are having on contemporary school principals. We argue that an overemphasis on individual resiliency without structural supports and system-level considerations can negatively impact school leaders. Specifically, we argue that overemphasizing resilience makes individuals responsible for adapting to adverse working conditions that are beyond their control to change, rather than considering institutional responsibility for implementing structural changes to improve working conditions. Although resilience may be a beneficial skill for individuals to overcome short-term adversity, the onus to change system-wide, long-term adverse conditions, such as work intensification, predominantly remains within the purview of institutions. Methodology We reviewed interdisciplinary research to examine resilience narratives across historical and disciplinary arcs, with specific attention given to the ways in which resilience is advocated for in the school leadership literature. We applied inductive qualitative coding to the literature using the broad questions,“What is resilience and how is it understood in different fields? What are the components of resilience? How is the notion of resilience applied to principals’ work?” In our analysis, we asked,“Why has there been a growing interest in resilience following the pandemic? What is driving this interest? What is not being said in the current research?” We used a date range of 1980–present so as to include the body of research from the end of the 20th century that informed the more current res

FAQs

What is the main concern about resilience narratives for school principals?

The article challenges the overemphasis on individual responsibility embedded in pro-resilience narratives and argues it can divert attention from structural causes of work intensification.

How does work intensification affect principals during COVID-19?

COVID-19 broadened principals’ responsibilities, including health and well-being of students and staff and managing shifts to virtual and back to in-person schooling. These added demands contribute to increased work intensification and decreased mental well-being.

What methodology did the authors use to analyze resilience narratives?

The authors reviewed interdisciplinary research and applied inductive qualitative coding, using questions about how resilience is understood across fields and how it is applied to principals’ work.

Oct 15, 2026

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