Design Thinking, a Method to Help Create Wellness Practices for Early Career Principals

Abstract

A healthy, positive school culture is created by passionate and committed school principals who are emotionally stable and have a positive sense of well-being (SWB). While the primary responsibility of school principals is to ensure the health of students and staff, it is essential that they consider their own WB in order to cope with the changes and stresses that disrupt their daily tasks, relationships with the school team and priorities (Woo and Steiner, 2022). For Seligman (2011), an individual's well-being is associated with positive emotions, commitment, interpersonal relationships, achievements and meaning in life. People with high levels of well-being more often experience pleasant emotions (Diener, 2000), easily form relationships with others and use their skills in the service of their professional environment (Kutsyuruba et al., 2019).

In the studies by Drago-Severson (2012) and Hadchiti et al. (2021), school principals indicated the need to take care of their well-being by devoting more time to personal and emotional care and developing positive relationships with their team. For Poirel and Yvon (2014), principals’ well-being is threatened by changing working conditions, including a greater variety of roles and tasks. In this sense, the presence of principals in poor psychological health increases the risk of all school staff feeling the same way. In addition, they are more likely to leave their jobs, which can have significant organizational consequences like burn out or intention to quit (Dodge et al., 2012). The threat to their well-being is also likely to have wider pedagogical consequences in terms of teaching effectiveness and student learning (Poirel & Yvon, 2014). School principals have long been shown to be one of the key elements contributing to teacher success and, consequently, student achievement (Leithwood et al., 2000). According to the literature, existing research has mainly focused on the elements that interfere with school principals' well-being (unhappiness and its negative effects) (Boyland, 2011; Silbaugh et al., 2021) or the link between well-being, productivity and sense of self-efficacy (Kansky & Diener, 2017; Zessin et al., 2015). Conversely, few studies have examined the strategies and practices favoring school principals' well-being (Eloma et al. 2021; Lyubomirsky & Layous, 2013; Wang, Pollock & Hauseman, 2018), and even fewer in a Francophone context.

It is therefore important to examine the strategies and practices that could be put in place to support the basic needs of school principals in terms of well-being. Closely related to action research, design thinking is a qualitative method that allows for a process of reflection and the search for innovative solutions by participants (Braun and Clarke, 2022). Through this methodology, the researchers intend to co-create and develop well-being practices in the workplace with school principals. This paper presents the design thinking methodology applied to educational sciences in a school administration context. It will be illustrated by preliminary results obtained during the first stages of design thinking.

Methodology, Methods, Research Instruments or Sources Used As this is an exploratory study, the non-probability sampling method will be used, specifically voluntary sampling. The project will therefore involve the joint work of researchers and participants (approx. 30 school principals). This research method requires an empirical inquiry that is part of a qualitative, reflexive and creative approach based on the design thinking method, and calls on researchers and practitioners to work together with the aim of bringing about change (Catroux, 2002). Closely linked to action research and practice change, this method will enable participants to create solutions themselves from the knowledge gained from research (Jonas, 2018). The design thinking method will be applied by the researcher and practitioners according to Ambrose & Harris’ (2010) seven steps: 1) problem definition, 2) solution research, 3) brainstorming, 4) prototyping, 5) selection, 6) implementation and 7) learning. These seven steps rely on continuous feedback, thinking and the ability to find solutions based on the needs of stakeholders in the field (Platner et al., 2015). The project includes three three-hour meetings per year between the participants and the researcher to co-develop the tool (the well-being practices). A preparatory and a final meetings are also planned, for a total of five meetings per year. These meetings will take the form of focus groups to collect specific data, drawn from the participants' personal experiences and interactions. Between each meeting, participants will also be given specific tasks designed to nurture their well-being practices and help them achieve the project's objectives. In this way, participants create their own well-being practices while referring to phases of scientific research and systematic inquiry (Jonas, 2018). Conclusions, Expected Outcomes or Findings There are, however, a number of limitations may emerge that merit close examination. Firstly, one of the main constraints is the small size of the study population. When the number of participants is small, it becomes difficult to extrapolate results to the entire population of school principals. This limitation compromises the generalizability of the conclusions and may lead to overly specific interpretations. Secondly, another major challenge in the present research on the well-being of school principals lies in the potential presence of biases such as the exclusive composition of the study population. For these preliminary steps, all participants were women. This restriction may limit the representativeness of the results, as men's experiences and perspectives could differ significantly. Gender diversity is crucial for obtaining a complete and nuanced picture of school principals' wellness practices. The absence of male participants could result in a partial view of reality and restrict the scope of the findings.

This study offers points for consideration on practices that can be put in place to promote the well-being of school principals. If the goal is to have healthy, positively productive schools, the well-being of school principals needs to be addressed. An effective school starts with committed and passionate leaders who have a positive sense of their well-being enabling them to meet the demands of everyday life in their workplace and have an impact on the success of the whole school team.

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