Preparing School Leaders to Support Educator Mental Health: A Practitioner's Perspective
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| Title: | Preparing School Leaders to Support Educator Mental Health: A Practitioner's Perspective |
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| Language: | English |
| Authors: | Brian Kitts, Amy Stevens |
| Source: | Practitioner to Practitioner. 2026 15(1):10-14. |
| Availability: | National Organization for Student Success. P.O. Box 963, Northport, AL 35476. Tel: 205-331-5997; e-mail: practitioner@thenoss.org; Web site: https://thenoss.org/Practitioner-to-Practitioner |
| Peer Reviewed: | N |
| Page Count: | 5 |
| Publication Date: | 2026 |
| Document Type: | Journal Articles Reports - Evaluative |
| Descriptors: | Mental Health, Teaching Conditions, Stress Variables, Administrator Responsibility, Leadership Training, Teachers, Teacher Burnout |
| Abstract: | Across the United States, teachers are experiencing unprecedented levels of stress, burnout, and emotional exhaustion. Research increasingly identifies systemic workplace conditions as the primary contributors to distress, and schools can either serve as protective environments or as sources of psychological harm. School leaders play a central role in shaping these conditions through decisions related to expectations, support structures, communication, and professional culture. This article argues that educator mental health must be treated as a core leadership responsibility and, therefore, as a central component of leadership preparation. Using a practitioner narrative as an anchor, the authors examine leadership responses to a real mental health crisis, identify explicit leadership practices that should be developed in preparation programs, and reflect on how leadership preparation can be strengthened to better prepare future leaders for this work. |
| Abstractor: | ERIC |
| Entry Date: | 2026 |
| Accession Number: | EJ1499757 |
| Database: | ERIC |
| Abstract: | Across the United States, teachers are experiencing unprecedented levels of stress, burnout, and emotional exhaustion. Research increasingly identifies systemic workplace conditions as the primary contributors to distress, and schools can either serve as protective environments or as sources of psychological harm. School leaders play a central role in shaping these conditions through decisions related to expectations, support structures, communication, and professional culture. This article argues that educator mental health must be treated as a core leadership responsibility and, therefore, as a central component of leadership preparation. Using a practitioner narrative as an anchor, the authors examine leadership responses to a real mental health crisis, identify explicit leadership practices that should be developed in preparation programs, and reflect on how leadership preparation can be strengthened to better prepare future leaders for this work. |
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