School leadership fostering mental health in the times of crisis: synthesis of school principals’ views and PISA 2022

Administration and governance of schools including many complex processes like bureaucracy, teaching, and school improvement is responsibility school principals. They are like bridges between micro-level dynamics and macro-level policies. Additionally, Turkey has experienced crises like pandemic and natural disasters in the recent years. These crises negatively affect the mental health of school stakeholders. All of these issues require an effective leadership style. In these aspects, the current study aims to investigate school leadership fostering mental health in times of crises. The design of the study is mixed-method research in which both quantitative and qualitative paradigms are followed. The data sources of the study were school principals and PISA 2022 dataset. PISA 2022 data related to mental health were extracted from dataset. Semi-structured interview forms were administered to school principals. Data coming from interviews are analyzed within content analysis while Hierarchical Linear Modelling (HLM) was run for PISA 2022 data. In terms of student-level variables, the PISA 2022 results showed that stress resistance was positively related to sense of belonging, feeling safe, assertiveness, and emotional control whereas it was negatively related to being bullied and empathy. Considering school-level variables, educational leadership and school diversity and multicultural views predicted stress resistance significantly. The results related to qualitative part showed that themes of perception on crisis, the impact of crises, crisis management actions, mental health support, and ways to improve mental health were effective in leadership style. It is concluded that school leadership fostering mental health depends on holistic perspective and taking action.