Browsing by Subject "rehtorit"

Tiivistelmä - Referat – Abstract The aim of my thesis was to describe, interpret and analyse what kind of perceptions the principals had about school leadership during the exceptional times caused by COVID-19 pandemia and remote teaching period. In addition, I examined which aspects of leadership in exceptional times emerged in the principals' responses. My study provides additional information on which areas of leadership should be emphasised in order to make schools better prepared to face future crises. Previous research shows that elements of good leadership remain the same regardless the circumstances, but during exceptional times some elements need to be emphasised more than in normal circumstances. I studied the responses to a questionnaire on schooling, teaching and well-being in the school community during COVID-19 coronavirus epidemic. The aim of the project was to compile an overall picture of the effects on teaching and learning, and to gather information for the next school year. The questionnaire was sent to all Finnish primary school principals in November 2020. In my thesis, I will discuss the answers to three open-ended questions in the questionnaire, which focus on principals' perceptions of the changes caused by the distance learning experiences in spring 2020 and the priorities regarding leadership for the autumn semester. A total of 880 principals responded to the survey. Using directed content analysis, I explored the responding principals' perceptions of school leadership during early days of the pandemic. I examined the results of my analysis using Drysdale and Gurr's (2020) framework for leading in challenging times. I referred to the model as the model for leadership in exceptional times. Most principals described changes and priorities related to practical issues as the most important. Issues related to safety and well-being were also frequently perceived as important. Only few principals mentioned subjects not related to the crisis as priorities for the fall semester. These subjects included school improvement and a range of soft values. The most prominent dimensions of leadership in exceptional times model in my data were setting direction and understanding the context. Only the aspect of self-management was almost ignored in the principals' responses. Finnish principals often seemed to get overwhelmed by the changing circumstances. By reflecting on the aspects of good management in times of crisis, principals could gain tools to improve their management in order to be better prepared for future crises.

Objectives. The aim of this study was to examine the well-being of Finnish school principals during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2021 by using a person-oriented approach to identify work burnout and engagement profiles. In addition, this study examined how the identified profiles differed in terms of job demands and resources. Stress caused by the Covid-19 crisis and by the successful deregulation of Covid-19 restrictions were examined as job demands and as job resources, this study examined resilience and servant leadership. In this study the job demands-resources (JD-R) model was used as the theoretical framework. It is important to examine the well-being of Finnish school principals during the Covid-19 pandemic because the previous studies have indicated that the increased amount of job demands caused by the pandemic have had a negative impact on the well-being of the principals. Methods. The research data was gathered as a part of a wider national research project concerning the health and well-being of Finnish school principals. The data was collected in Spring 2021 by sending a self-report questionnaire to all (approx. 1200) members of the Finnish Principals’ Association. The final sample consisted of 526 principals, of which 59 % were women. The profiles were identified by using TwoStep -cluster analysis and the differences between the profiles in terms of job demands and resources were examined by using the Kruskal-Wallis H test. Results and conclusions. Three different well-being profiles were identified among the school principals; engaged (35 %), at risk of burnout (45 %), and in burnout (20 %). Those who were at risk of burnout or already suffered from burnout experienced more stress caused by the Covid-19 crisis and by the successful deregulation of Covid-19 restrictions than the engaged principals. The engaged principals experienced the most resilience and they reported that their leadership style corresponded the most to servant leadership when compared to the principals that were at risk of burnout or those that already suffered from burnout. The results showed that more than half of the principals (65 %) belonged to burnout profiles, which is very alarming. In the future, it is important to examine more extensively principals’ job demands and resources and to find concrete ways to support the well-being of principals by using the knowledge gathered.

Principals' well-being at work has been researched in Finland in recent years with Principals' Barometer. According to it, principals’ well-being at work has weakened year by year, especially due to the constant rush, lack of free time and increased concern for students and teachers. The goal of this thesis is to bring out the factors that increase and decrease principals' well-being at work in the school's everyday life, so that their own voice is heard. The theoretical background of my study include research literature about well-being at work and educational leadership, as well as the Self-Determination Theory of Ryan and Deci (2000). The research material has been produced with a written assignment for educational leaders about their best and worst working days and analyzed with qualitative content analysis. The factors that increase and decrease principals' well-being at work are often opposites of each other. Well-being is affected by several factors related to work tasks, social and physical aspects and life outside of working hours. In particular, feelings of urgency, meaningfulness and inadequacy, work community, atmosphere, well-being of teachers and students, feedback, challenging situations, physical well-being, own attitude affect well-being at work.

Objectives. The purpose of this thesis was to examine curiosity and persistence and their associations with occupational well-being (measured as work engagement and burnout) among Finnish school principals during the Covid-19 pandemic. The theoretical framework was social and emotional skills and their associations with well-being described by the OECD. Previous studies have shown that social and emotional skills are generally positively related to life satisfaction, occupational well-being, and success. It was hypothesized that curiosity and persistence are positively associated with work engagement and negatively with burnout. In addition, it was examined whether principals' age and gender had any effects on the results. Methods. This thesis used data from the Principal Barometer 2021 research study. A structured questionnaire was sent electronically to 1,200 school principals across Finland in the spring of 2021. The sample consisted of 656 principals, of which 58.7 % were women. The average age of the respondents was 51 years. The data was analyzed using hierarchical regression analysis. Results and conclusions. The results showed that both curiosity and persistence were positively associated with work engagement (vigor, dedication and absorption). Furthermore, persistence was negatively associated with burnout (exhaustive fatigue, cynicism and impaired occupational self-respect). In this thesis, principals' age and gender had no effects. The results indicated that curiosity and persistence are positively reflected in principals' occupational well-being, and it would be useful to foster and develop these skills. It is important to increase understanding of principals' occupational well-being, not only because of principals' own well-being, but also because their well-being is reflected in the well-being and success of teachers and students as well.

Objectives. The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between job crafting and the perceived work meaningfulness and organizational commitment among school principals. In addition, the study examined how work meaningfulness is associated with school principals' organizational commitment. The study also sought to determine whether principals’ age, gender or work experience would be associated with work meaningfulness or organizational commitment. Job crafting was examined using four dimensions based on the job demands-resources (JD-R) model. Based on previous research, it was hypothesized that increasing structural resources would be positively associated with work meaningfulness. Increasing social and structural resources were assumed to be positively associated with organizational commitment while reducing hindering demands was assumed to be negatively associated with organizational commitment. In addition, work meaningfulness was assumed to be positively associated with organizational commitment. Methods. The data used in the study is part of the Principal Barometer 2022, which mapped the well-being of Finnish school principals. The data was collected in Spring 2022 by sending a questionnaire to all 1200 members of the Finnish Principals’ Association. The data included a total of 841 respondents, of whom 63.9% were women. The average age of the respondents was 51.7 years. The data was analyzed using hierarchical regression analysis. Results and conclusions. The results showed that among the dimensions of job crafting, only the increase in structural resources was positively associated with work meaningfulness and organizational commitment. Age was also positively associated with work meaningfulness. Reducing hindering job demands was negatively associated with meaningfulness and organizational commitment. The results suggest that work meaningfulness experienced by Finnish school principals’ increases organizational commitment. In conclusion, providing opportunities for learning and development through job crafting strengthens principals' work meaningfulness and their commitment to the school community. Providing opportunities for principals to craft their jobs can support their commitment, their experiences of meaningfulness and thus their overall well-being.