IRELAND STANDS AT an important moment in education. The Department of Education and Youth is introducing new curricula at both primary and post-primary levels, promising a more relevant, engaging and future-focused learning experience for our children.

It is an ambitious and welcome reform agenda, but there is one uncomfortable truth that cannot be ignored: no curriculum, however well-designed, can succeed without the leadership needed to bring it to life. At the heart of any school improvement reform is the school principal – the príomhoide – traditionally understood as the head-teacher in a school. But what happens to leading teaching and learning when the príomhoide is already stretched beyond capacity with the existing workload?

Curriculum reform does not happen just because new documents are published, and new policies are announced; rather, school principals create the conditions that allow teachers to embrace change, develop new approaches to teaching and learning, and build a shared vision for curriculum enactment across their school. Ireland’s principals are willing and more than capable of delivering on this agenda, yet the evidence suggests they simply don’t have time to do so.

Our study released today from the DCU Centre for Collaborative Research Across Teacher Education (CREATE) focused on the occupational wellbeing of over 900 primary and second-level school principals. It paints a rather stark picture. Nearly one in 10 principals reported working an average of over 65 hours per week, and almost all cited workload as a key factor in poor occupational health and wellbeing.

Worryingly, the overwhelming majority report moderate to high levels of work-related burnout, and a third reported experiencing poor to very poor mental health. Meanwhile, around seven in ten are unable to take their full annual leave. These figures are not simply statistics about workplace wellbeing; rather, they reveal a leadership system under extraordinary pressure at precisely the time when it is being asked to deliver one of the most significant educational reforms of a generation.

Bogged down

Perhaps, the greatest irony is that much of the workload for all principals in Ireland has little to do with education itself. Principals increasingly describe spending their days on maintenance issues, financial management, procurement, human resources, compliance requirements and an endless stream of administrative tasks, from payroll to hot school lunches.

It may be surprising to note that many of the excessive demands placed upon principals fall outside of their remit to lead teaching and learning as set out in Ireland’s foundational Education Act (1998): “The Principal… shall have responsibility… for the instruction provided to students in the school and shall contribute, generally, to the education and personal development of students in that school”.

One principal captured the reality with painful honesty, “As a principal, I am supposed to be in charge of teaching and learning. I cannot tell you the last time I worked on anything teaching and learning related!”

Another described being expected to act simultaneously as a cleaner, counsellor, IT technician, HR lead, go-between, accountant, builder and engineer, concluding simply that it was “too much… but no matter what you do or how hard you work the list of demands continues to increase.”

These are not isolated complaints. They reflect a growing mismatch between what society expects of principals and the practical reality of their working day.

No way forward

This matters because curriculum reform is about focusing on teaching and learning. It requires principals to visit classrooms, be aware of pupils’ learning needs, be present with their teachers, facilitate meaningful professional learning, and crucially, provide practical support for innovation and excellence in teaching standards. Principals yearn to build a culture where innovation is possible rather than being overwhelmed. Instead, they find themselves trapped in an endless cycle of operational demands that leave little space for strategic thinking about whole school teaching and learning.

For teaching principals, the challenge is even greater. In Ireland, over half of primary school principals have full-time teaching duties. This adds another dynamic to conversations around workload sustainability. This cohort of school leaders must fulfil the dual mandate of teaching and leading, whilst being subject to the myriad of rules, regulations, policies and protocols that all schools must abide by.

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It should not surprise us then that principals feel caught between the ambition of policymakers and the realities of running a school. If Ireland genuinely wants its new curriculum to transform classrooms, we must first transform the conditions under which school leaders work. This is not simply about asking principals to work harder, by any reasonable measure they already do, nor is it just about wellbeing, important though that is. It is about creating leadership capacity. Protected leadership time must become a policy priority rather than an aspiration.

Administrative burdens should be reduced, centralised where possible or localised when beneficial. The current Summer Provision programme, traditionally managed by the school principal, is now afforded to others within the school to lead and is a positive example of progressive change, although still not perfect. Schools should have access to greater administrative and operational support, freeing principals to focus on their core purpose as educational leaders.

Educational reform succeeds through people and not through policy documents. Principals are the bridge between national ambition and classroom practice. When they have the time and capacity to lead, schools flourish, teachers are supported, and children’s learning is enhanced. When they are overwhelmed by administration, even the best reforms fail to gain adequate and meaningful traction.

If we want a new curriculum that genuinely transforms education, we must first give principals the time to do the job they entered the profession to do: the príomhoide of their school, leading teaching and learning. Otherwise, we risk asking overstretched school leaders to lead yet another reform agenda while standing on foundations that have already begun to crack.

Dr Sabrina Fitzsimons is Co-Director of CREATE and an Assistant Professor of Education based in the School of Policy and Practice. Professor Catherine Furlong is Associate Professor within the School of Policy and Practice at the Institute of Education, St Patrick’s Campus, DCU.