Headteachers in Ireland feel overwhelmed by Covid-19 challenges, study finds

Seventy-seven per cent of primary school headteachers in Ireland feel overwhelmed by the challenges of COVID-19, a new study by Trinity College Dublin has found.

The survey of over 600 primary school headteachers also found that 92% of the respondents felt worried about their situation after the crisis.

With COVID-19 having caused major disruption to Irish Primary Schools, with over 3,200 schools and 550,000 students facing immense challenges, the study, ‘Irish Primary School Leadership During COVID-19, Principals’ Study Report 2020’, was undertaken to help schools navigate the crisis and to explore the impact that the COVID-19 crisis has had on principals as leaders of their school communities.

The study also found that the majority of headteachers feel emotionally drained by their work: 73% felt emotionally drained from their work, meanwhile 78% of the participants felt drained at the end of the workday.

Headteachers feel their staff have adapted well to the crisis: 92% agreed that their staff members changed quickly to adapt new conditions, solved problems as they arise and quickly responded to change.

The overriding majority of respondents feel their schools have performed well during the crisis: 96% of the respondents agreed that their schools carried out and completed core tasks well.

Headteachers are divided in their attitude towards online learning: Almost one-third of the participants had positive attitudes towards online learning and another one-third had negative attitudes towards online teaching.

School leaders showed high levels of transformational leadership: 90% of respondents indicated that they often or always respect for staff’s personal feelings.

Overall, the findings highlight that principals are confident in their abilities and their staff to perform a wide range of skills in their work roles, and that they have the propensity to deal with changes occurring in their work roles and in general.

From the findings gathered, the researchers have suggested that there is improved communications and greater involvement of principals; that there is adequate IT infrastructure and support; and that there is good provision of professional development opportunities.