The design of the current study is mixed method which is a combination of qualitative and quantitative method. In order to achieve the purpose of the study, the current study administered a quantitative procedure by using PISA 2022 dataset. A correlational design investigating the relationship between student stress resistance and student-level factors (sense of belonging, being bullied, feeling safe, empathy, assertiveness, and emotional control) and school-level factors (educational leadership, school diversity and multicultural views, shortage of educational staff, shortage of educational material, and openness culture/climate) was conducted. On the other side, qualitative part was based on grounded theory that is a useful method to draw a framework showing relations between concepts. Within this method, a theory may be developed or updated. Grounded theory approach is managed by “constant comparative analysis” in which data analysis and data collection are conducted together [35]. Parallel to the idea behind grounded theory, the current study aimed to generate a theory on school leadership fostering mental health in times of crises.
For the quantitative part, 7250 students from 196 schools in Turkey participated in the PISA 2022 application were sample of the study. Sample was selected purposively such that a maximum variation sampling was applied for qualitative part. In determination of sample size, data saturation was followed and 11 participants were reached as they were described in Table 1. They were two female school principals while there were nine male school principals. Numbers of school principals in primary schools, middle schools, and high schools were respectively four, three, and four. In school management; 1 school principal has 0–5 years of experience, 4 school principals have 6–10 years of experience, 3 school principals have 11–15 years of experience, 2 school principals have 16–20 years of experience.
Data collection tools of the current study were dataset coming from PISA 2022 and semi-structured interview form. PISA has totally 582 questions for the questions in science, math, reading, and critical thinking skills. Additionally, some of countries also completed questionnaires on information and communication technologies, welfare, student perspective, school principal perspective, teacher perspective, and parent perspective. Semi-structured interview form included five main questions and 15 alternative questions.
In the quantitative data analysis, Hierarchical Linear Modelling (HLM) was run. HLM is an analysis investigating complex form of least squares method. In this method, independent variables are separated to levels hierarchically so that variations on dependent variable are calculated more accurately. Dependent variable of the study, stress resistance, is calculated for student and school levels. Sense of belonging, being bullied, feeling safe, empathy, assertiveness, and emotional control are student-level factors while school-level factors are educational leadership, school diversity and multicultural views, shortage of educational staff, shortage of educational material, and openness culture/climate. Since student data were nested in schools, HLM was used instead of Multiple Linear Regression. Both school and student characteristics must be examined within HLM since education systems have a hierarchical structure. Further, HLM eliminates the violation of assumption of independent observation for nested data.
Content analysis based on general schema guided coding was performed in order to generate analytical schema of leadership in crisis moments. While conducting the content analysis, the code list was first revealed. While naming the codes, the concepts in the literature were taken into consideration. Then, the codes that were thought to be related to each other were distributed under categories. Differentiated codes were evaluated under different categories. The resulting categories were named in the light of the concepts in the literature and determined as themes. On the other side, constant comparative analysis was followed. In this analysis, after collecting data from each participant, the newly collected data is analyzed by comparing it with the data collected from the previous participant. In this procedure, semi-structure interview form changed continuously by considering the previous data collection. For each interview that was completed, firstly, open coding was applied by comparing individual texts. Emerging coding were compared and contrasted such that they were considered according to their similarities and differences. When data collection procedure for all participants was completed within data saturation, axial coding was followed in order to create categories. Finally, selective coding was administered to decide core category by comparing and connecting categories. These core categories were called as the themes of the study, which were expressed as the perception on crisis, the impact of crises, crisis management actions, mental health support, and ways to improve mental health.
Findings
Quantitative part
In the current study, quantitative data were collected to analyze roles of student-level and school-level factors on mental health. Since a variable named as mental health is not available in PISA dataset, a close and related variable, that is stress resistance, was chosen for the analysis. To examine how much variance in stress resistance is caused by differentiation in student-level and school-level factors, null model was performed. Intercept value that means average of school performance in terms of stress resistance is − 0.30. The model is significant (t = -3.57, p < .001) such that usage of HLM instead of regression is significant. The 95% confidence interval was from − 0.028 to − 0.032. Table 2 shows statistics related to null model.
Variation in the scores of stress resistance of students from different schools is great as it was summarized in Table 3, Χ2 (195) = 307.89, p < .001. In-class correlation coefficient (ICC) for school differences was calculated as 0.15 such that 15% of variance in stress resistance was accounted for by differences of schools. This variance also showed that running HLM for this dataset was appropriate. However, this variance also meant that HLM is not required instead of regression analyses. On the other hand, in-class correlation coefficient for student variations was calculated as 0.85 such that 85% of variance in stress resistance was explained by variation in students.
Table 4 summarized statistics related to random intercept model. Sense of belonging, being bullied, feeling safe, empathy, assertiveness, and emotional control predicted significantly stress resistance. 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. One-unit increase in sense of belonging increases stress resistance 0.03 points. One-unit increase in being bullied decreases stress resistance 0.04 points. One-unit increase in feeling safe increases stress resistance 0.05 points. One-unit increase in empathy decreases reading stress resistance 0.12 points. One-unit increase in assertiveness increases stress resistance 0.17 points. One-unit increase in emotional control increases stress resistance 0.41 points.
Table 5 summarized statistics related to level-2 model, which is named as means as outcome model. Role of educational leadership, school diversity and multicultural views, shortage of educational staff, shortage of educational material, and openness culture/climate on stress resistance was tested. Educational leadership and school diversity and multicultural views predicted stress resistance significantly. One-unit increase in school diversity and multicultural views increased stress resistance 0.41 points while One-unit increase in educational leadership increased stress resistance 0.16 points. Shortage of educational staff, shortage of educational material, and openness culture/climate did not a significant impact on stress resistance.
Qualitative part
The current study collected qualitative data on school leadership fostering mental health in crises times. Data were analyzed via content analysis technique in which coding was conducted. Analysis showed five themes, which were named as perception on crisis, the impact of crises, crisis management actions, mental health support, and ways to improve mental health. Table 6 demonstrated themes, sub themes, and five most frequent codes.
The first theme: perception on crisis
The first theme that was depicted in qualitative data analysis was the perception on crisis. Two sub-themes emerged under this theme: multiple crises and school crises. School principals talked about the impact of different types of crises such as climate, health and disaster on schools. For example, SP10 stated that it was a negative situation for students to be at school in warmer weather as a result of the shifting seasons with the climate crisis. On the other side, school crises like disciplined, failure, and special education were specified by school principals. One of the school principals, SP7, stated that disruptions in special education processes are important parts of school crises. Students in need of special education often show adaptation problems, resulting in a crisis environment for many stakeholders, from teachers to parents.
The second theme: impact of crises
The second theme of the study, the impact of crises, was organized into four sub themes: academic impact, sociocultural impact, economic impact, and psychological impact. The codes associated with academic impact were generally low GPA, lack of knowledge, and lack of skills. One participant, SP1 declared as follows:
As you know, Turkey experienced the disaster of the century. Especially the Kahramanmaraş earthquake created an important crisis situation for schools, schools were canceled, academic achievement of our students declined. Especially our students at the end of high school were going to take the university exam and were negatively affected by this situation. Most of them took lower points than we expected.
Further, socio-cultural aspects were visible in the schools. The most frequent codes were detected as social integration problem, digital addiction, social isolation, lack of activity, and lack of cultural capital. SP4 declared sociocultural impacts of crises as follow:
In recent years, I see a socialization problem among my students. Of course the Covid 19 pandemic has undoubtedly played a role in this. Everywhere was closed, students stayed at home all the time. They thought they would get sick if they closed someone. In addition to this pandemic, digital addiction also has a negative impact on these social integration processes. Unfortunately, our students prefer digital channels instead of socializing. As a result, a process of social isolation emerges.
In the data analysis, it is stated that the economic impact of crises is mostly the financial crises experienced by families. SP6 stated that the multiple crises in the country had a negative impact on families and that there were more unemployed parents. Further, students were challenged with clothing and nutrition problems due to economic impacts of crises. The last sub-theme related to impact of crises was psychological impact. The most frequent codes were anxiety, depression, stress, lower wellbeing, and negative mental health. Crises influence psychological situation of not only students but also other stakeholders. SP8 stated his comments as follow:
There have been major crises in our country in recent years. The Covid-19 pandemic, earthquakes and even floods… We can also add the forest fires in the summer. Almost all of these have somehow negatively affected learning at school. I would say that most of these negative effects are psychological. The mental health of both teachers and students has been negatively affected. Students’ test anxiety has increased. In fact, this anxiety often turned into depression.
The third theme: crisis management actions
The third theme of the current study was crisis management actions. Responses of participants mostly focused on activities to manage crises in different levels. Therefore, these responses were classified as school-level, community-level, and government-level. School-level actions depicted the codes as follow: leadership, communication, teacher resilience, safety, and student motivation. Almost all school principals stressed the role of leadership style on mental health. For this reason, they stated they lead school stakeholders by implementing democratic, humanistic, and participatory styles. SP5 declared that school safety has crucial significance to keep mental health of not only students and teachers but also parents positive.
Community-level actions on crises management were mostly based on cooperation. Parental involvement, partnership, donation, meetings, and universities were the most frequently mentioned codes. SP2 mentioned the function of universities:
I can say that we get the most support from universities in terms of school-environment cooperation in dealing with crises in our school. Thanks to the academics of the guidance and psychological counseling and educational administration departments of universities, they support us a lot. Whenever we ask for training, they do not refuse us and provide training.
The last actions related to crisis management were those coming from government. For this sub-theme, political actors put forward actions to manage crises. The most frequent codes were listed as legal orders, ministry, education organizations, president, and parliament. SP9 exemplified that the ministry reacted very quickly after the pandemic and immediately switched to distance learning. Another participant, SP3, emphasized the role of legal orders and parliament as below:
Since our country is a centralized country, we need to act according to legal regulations even when making decisions in a crisis. At this point, the Ministry can find quick solutions with circulars and regulations, but we can say that important crises that concern the whole country are overcome through commission work and laws in parliament. We experienced the effective actions of these institutions both during the pandemic and the earthquake.
The fourth theme: mental health support
The fourth theme of the current study was mental health support. The school principals explained how school stakeholders supported their mental health. They talked about both their incentives and experiences of stakeholders. The sub-themes were emerged as educational, sportive, and social supports. In terms of educational support, well-being seminars, projects, graduate education, online education, and lifelong learning drew attention. SP2 declared that increase in opportunities related to lifelong learning activities affected positively mental health of teachers. SP11 mentioned the significance of graduate education on positive mental health. She stated that mental health of teachers participating in Master of Science were developed after they registered to graduate programs.
Considering sportive support, exercise, walking/running, swimming, yoga, and team sports were codes mentioned by school principals. All school principals underlined the importance of making sport on mental health. They talked about the positive effects of many sports branches on mental health, from team sports such as soccer to individual sports such as swimming. SP10 declared that she was making Yoga that evening if she experienced a negative day in the school. The last sub-theme for mental health support was social support. Mostly observed activities were represented as picnic, ceremonies, dinner/breakfast, social media, and family visits. According to views of school principals, teachers and student like to come together in special days so that these events have a positive impact on mental health of students and teachers. SP3 expressed this situation as follows:
All components of the school enjoy being together in sociocultural activities. And frankly, I think it’s good for everyone’s mental health. Imagine you’ve been teaching at school all day and you’re tired. When you have dinner with your favorite colleagues in the evening, all your tiredness goes away and you feel more vigorous. The same is true for students. Listening to lectures, preparing for exams; all these are exhausting events. But if you organize an award ceremony for students, you can relieve their stress.
The fifth theme: ways to improve mental health
The last and fifth theme of the current study was ways to improve mental health. Suggestions of school principals to improve mental health in school were classified into three groups: individual, organizational, and local/national suggestions. In terms of individual ways to improve mental health, school principals mostly recommended consulting, managing stress, learning, saying “no”, and being patient. SP2 stated that education stakeholders in Turkey unfortunately are in a hurry, so everyone should learn to be patient if they want to improve their mental health. Further, SP5 expresses that learning to say no has crucial significance for not only for those in the field of education, but for everyone in different sectors.
Considering organizational ways to improve mental health, the most frequent codes were empowering teachers, guiding students, drawing parents to school, creating budget, and cooperating with stakeholders. It was observed that school principals cared about all stakeholders in their approach to mental health from an organizational perspective. SP4 concentrated mostly on ways improving mental health of students by guiding them while SP9 focused more on empowering teachers. On the other side, need on money to improve mental health was emphasized by SP5 and SP2. SP7 offered an organizational perspective as follows:
I would say that there is a need for organizational interventions to improve mental health because especially school management can reach all stakeholders more easily. In other words, if there is an organizational climate in the school that focuses on mental health, you can improve the mental health of all, especially teachers and students. To achieve this, money is needed. The money sent by the Ministry is only enough to cover basic expenses. For example, you want to create a library to empower teachers, but you don’t have the resources. The school administration must create a budget to solve these problems.
In terms of local/national ways to improve mental health, school principals offered macro-level approaches. Educational policy, organizational structure, autonomy, collaboration, and financial support were the key recommendations mentioned by participants. SP6 suggested that organizational structure of the schools would be changed by considering mental health of stakeholders and she exemplified this suggestion by saying that there should be a mental health promotion unit in each district. Another participant, SP7, stressed the importance of school autonomy such that school principals would make rapid and effective decisions to improve mental health. SP1 explained his recommendations as follow:
In order to improve both mental health in schools and the leadership skills of school administrators, ministry-oriented studies must be carried out because the fish stinks from the head. Unfortunately, in our country, policies related to teaching are mostly put into practice. Education is not only about teaching. There is also a psychological aspect to education and there is a need for educational policies to improve mental health. For this reason, cooperation should be established with other ministries, especially the Ministry of Health.
Synthesis of quantitative and qualitative part
The current study collected both quantitative and qualitative data to put forward a model on school leadership fostering mental health in times of crises. Therefore, quantitative and qualitative data were synthesized. The model for this kind of leadership is based on stress resistance and mental health. Stress resistance is influenced by student-level and school-level factors and influenced mental health that is addressed together with multiple crisis management, mental health support and improvement of mental health. The Fig. 1 depicts the model.
School Leadership Fostering Mental Health
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