Browsing by Author "Tähkälä, Sally"

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.