Ethical decision-making and staff mental health in the school workplace

Abstract

Principals are leading and managing schools in an era of an ever increasing recognition of the impact of mental health issues on the workplace. When principals try to manage the effects of staff mental health issues they are often faced with ethical dilemmas as they seek to balance the needs and wants of all stakeholders. The purpose of this research was to enable principals to make better and more informed ethical decisions when staff mental health issues impact negatively on school organisation and management. The research constructed through a series of interrelated scholarly papers and professional practice initiatives begins with a literature review through which it was established that an ethics of care is paramount to dealing with the impact of staff mental health issues in schools. Subsequently two NSW Department of Education policy documents were analysed for evidence of ethical decision-making guidance, only to reveal that a very limited use of an ethics of care underpinned these policies. A small scale, qualitative study investigated the experiences of principals managing staff whose mental health issues impacted on the workplace, and conversely the experiences of how staff with a mental health issue felt principals managed the impact of their mental health issue. Four teachers affected by mental health issues and four principals managing the impacts of mental health issues on teacher performance, were interviewed and the transcripts were analysed and discussed. The recommendations from these eight interviewees led to the theoretical discussion of ethical leadership and positive workplace culture. This research involved a number of processes. The document analysis of the two Department of Education policies used Bacchi's (2009) WPR (What's the problem represented to be) framework and Shapiro and Gross' (2008) and Shapiro and Stefkovich's (2005, 2011) multiple ethical paradigm framework. Semi-structured interviews were used in order to gain insight into the experiences of principals and teachers. The focus of these interviews was the experience of living with or managing someone with a prolonged period of a mental health issue; the availability and effectiveness of policies, procedures or support; and the things that made things easier or more difficult and suggestions for the future of managing staff mental health issues. The transcripts were analysed using aspects of systemic functional linguistics, critical discourse analysis and Shapiro and Stefkovich's (2005, 2011) multiple ethical paradigm framework. The findings from the literature review and the document analysis showed a need for a specific kind of ethical decision-making tool - one that encompasses a number of ethical paradigms, including an ethic of care. As a result the Pathways-Transformation-Perspectives (PTP) Ethical Decision-Making Framework was developed. The findings from the interviews pointed to the need for professional learning on mental health issues; the need for principals and managers to provide support from an ethics of care perspective and with a high degree of confidentiality; and the need for Departmental support that is easily accessible. Recommendations also included a call for ethical leadership and an understanding and promotion of a positive organisational culture. This latter recommendation is addressed through a theoretical discussion about how to embed ethical leadership in positive workplace culture.

Date of Award	2015
Original language	English