Teachers' Perspectives on Principal Mistreatment

As one might expect, we found that principalsí mistreatment resulted in farreaching, destructive effects on teachers psychologically/emotionally (e.g., shock and disorientation, humiliation, loneliness, self-doubt, lowered self-esteem, fear, anger, and post-traumatic stress disorder [PTSD]) and physically/physiologically (e.g., chronic sleep disorders, chronic fatigue, stomach aches, headaches and migraines, nausea, weight gain, neck and back pain, diarrhea, heart palpitations, auditory impairment, and blurred vision). In turn, such effects had further negative consequences for (a) relationships between and among teachers, (b) collective decision-making processes, and (c) teachersí instructional work in classrooms. We describe these consequences in greater detail below.

Damaged Relationships

Interestingly, most of the experienced teachers we interviewed reported that throughout their professional careers and in their work with former principals, they had been totally involved in their schools, and, in fact, frequently provided the leadership necessary to initiate innovative arrangements among faculty focusing on student development. Our data demonstrate that abusive principals severely undermined the development of innovative and collaborative structures among faculty as well as teachersí overall level of involvement in their schools. As a result, mistreated teachers typically withdrew from most discretional involvements such as committee work, school-wide events, special projects, and staff development. When involvement was considered mandatory, such as faculty meeting attendance, teachers minimized their participation and, in general, maintained silence. Briefly, teachers indicated that such extreme responses on their part were designed to protect themselves from further attacks by abusive principals. These teachers became islands; support from others was limited and was often given only ìsecretlyÎ because, as one teacher stated, ìfriends were afraid that they could become a target of mistreatment, guilt by association.Î

There were a lot of little cliques. There was no sharing among the faculty, no sharing of ideas or methods, no getting together and looking at students or doing assessments, none of that. Committees were few and far between and generally composed of her little pets. That is how all decisions were made. No one else wanted to be on the committees under these circumstances. . . . I spent a lot of time on the phone with a really good friend. . . . She and I would make popcorn and just talk. Sometimes I would cry.

Teachers stopped saying good morning and started being real short. . . . At holiday parties, attendance was extremely low. . . . Trust suffered. Even I was finding fault. I was short with certain people whom normally I could have fluffed off. Where normally most people would give and take, everything became like a life or death situation. Everything was negative. When you get a totally negative feeling at the top, by the time that you get down to the teachers, kids, and parents, it is pretty bad. I felt very, very sad a lot of times because of what was happening to our school.