uLead2025 - The Summit of Educational Leadership

School leaders, as a regular part of their work, care for students, staff, and others in their school community. In fact, this relational approach to school leadership can be extremely rewarding or extremely challenging depending on the context of the school at any given time! Effective school leaders know the emotional labour that goes into caring for others is a critical component of building a thriving school environment. This presentation will explore what our research team, from the University of Calgary, the University of Ottawa and the Alberta Teachers Association learned when school leaders of all genders were asked about their experiences with emotional labour. This presentation will probe the question of whether emotional labour is different depending on gender. It will also consider the impact and mental cost of providing emotional labour on a regular basis. Finally, this session will explore methods that can be used to help school leaders care for their own mental emotional well-being.