Abstract:

This oral session will facilitate participants’ comprehension of the factors that cause personal and professional stress and burnout in contemporary leaders. How to cope with immediate stressors and how to develop intra-personal resiliency dispositions as well as effective inter-personal communication dispositions will be presented. The imperativeness of incorporating these dispositions into educational leadership programs will be examined and recommended strategies to do so will be presented so that more of our future educational leaders are not “ground down” by the various people, events and ideas that constantly impact them, especially in this age of accountability. Recent research conducted by the presenters will be analyzed and specific recommendations on developing coping and resiliency intra-personal dispositions as well as on reinforcing effective communication dispositions from some of those education leaders who have successfully survived and thrived will be presented.

This session synthesizes research related to stress and burnout and provides specific recommendations on improving individual coping and resiliency as well as communication for personal and organizational satisfaction and productivity. Specific references to both quantitative (2006) and qualitative (2008) research studies conducted by the presenters in Delaware, Georgia, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Virginia will be highlighted to facilitate the teaching about stress and resiliency development in administrator preparation programs so that more educational leaders are able to effectively survive and lead school change in these turbulent times.