The Impact of Organizational Trauma on School Leaders: An Exploratory Quantitative Study

Abstract

In an era characterized by unprecedented challenges, organizations are frequently exposed to traumatic events and crises, necessitating adaptation for sustainability. This study investigates how organizational trauma impacts the well-being of school leaders. Organizational trauma refers to physical and emotional distress caused by a traumatic event experienced collectively by employees in an organization. Organizational trauma can cause significant dysfunction in organizations, with critical short-term or long-term implications for the organization’s stability and effectiveness. School organizations, as a caring organization, may be a repository for trauma. The purpose of this exploratory quantitative study using survey research methods was to explore how school leaders are responding to different types of organizational trauma. This study seeks to identify if organizational trauma impacts school leaders negatively, resulting in burnout, or positively resulting in post-traumatic growth. This study also seeks to explore the effects of a trauma-informed climate in schools to assess if it has a negative correlation with burnout of school leaders or a positive correlation with post-traumatic growth. The population for this study was school leaders of public schools from the Mid-Atlantic region. A sample of 33 school leaders, comprised of principals and assistant principals, participated in this study. Descriptive statistics and correlational analyses were conducted to answer the research questions. Findings from this study are critical to the understanding of how school leaders are impacted by organizational trauma. School leaders may experience negative consequences such as burnout. However, there is also the possibility for positive outcomes such as post-traumatic growth. The significant negative correlation between trauma-informed climate and burnout highlights the protective role that school environments can play. Schools that implement trauma-informed policies and foster open communication reduce the emotional toll. Findings from this study indicate an absence of a significant relationship between trauma-informed care and post-traumatic growth. This suggests that while a supportive environment may buffer against burnout, other factors need to be considered to understand post-traumatic growth. This study offers suggestions for fostering a trauma-informed climate to protect employees in caring organizations from experiencing burnout as a result of organizational trauma. .