The Role of Laughter, Joy and Play in School Leader Well-being

These past few weeks I have been sharing research on school leadership based on the SEARCH framework for well-being, designed for education (Waters and Loton, 2019). This week’s focus is emotional management and positive emotions.

Most studies explored school leadership and well-being from the perspective of negative impacts, however, Cherkowski and Walker's (2016) work stands out for its adoption of a positive psychology lens.

Their small-scale study with flourishing school principals was designed to better understand the forces that contribute to school leader flourishing. One of the findings was the crucial role that laughter, play and feelings of joy had, both for their own flourishing and the flourishing of their school community.

And whilst the research into positive emotions and school leadership is limited, we know from broader research of their benefits. Beyond fleeting moments of happiness, positive emotions build our personal resources, including strengthening relationships, heightening mindfulness, enhancing self-acceptance, and even bolstering physical health (Vacharkulksemsuk & Fredrickson, 2013).

Joy, play and laughter were definitely parts of my career in education - and something I appreciate more in hindsight since leaving working in schools. Although I can savour them now, there were occasions when I missed out on truly appreciating them at the time. I understand that the systemic pressures that some school leaders are facing currently means finding these moments can be more of a challenge. Looking back, I know I could have cultivated and fostered more joy and laughter, even if through brief encounters such as dropping into the playground for five minutes.

One way to make the most of our positive emotions is to savour them . You can do this in the moment - being fully present to experiencing and identifying the positive emotions, slowing down and consciously creating memories (Su-Keene & DeMatthews, 2022). You can also do this retrospectively through reminiscing - reflecting, journaling or sharing with others at the end of the day or the week on the positive moments you have had, concentrating and identifying what you were feeling at the time.

It is worth noting here, that this is not about supressing or pushing away more demanding or challenging feelings - there is learning for us in being with those emotions. Additionally, positive emotions are only one aspect, of one of the six domains of the pathways to well-being - and therefore only one piece of anyone’s well-being jigsaw puzzle.

I would love to hear what moments in the school day bring you joy and perhaps what you could do to cultivate a little bit more of this in the days ahead.

If you would like to hear more about the research that I explored with regards school leadership and well-being then you can sign up for the newsletter using the website link in my post.

Cherkowski, S., & Walker, K. (2016). Purpose, Passion and Play: Exploring the Construct of Flourishing from the Perspective of School Principals. Journal of Educational Administration, 54(4), 378–392. ERIC.

Su-Keene, E., & DeMatthews, D. (2022). “Savoring” the Joy: Reducing Principal Burnout and Improving Well-Being through Positive Psychology Interventions. Clearing House: A Journal of Educational Strategies, Issues and Ideas, 95(5), 210–219. ERIC. https://doi.org/10.1080/00098655.2022.2097623

Vacharkulksemsuk, T., & Fredrickson, B. L. (2013). Looking Back and Glimpsing Forward: The Broaden-and-Build Theory of Positive Emotions as Applied to Organizations. In A. B. Bakker (Ed.), Advances in Positive Organizational Psychology (Vol. 1, pp. 45–60). Emerald Group Publishing Limited.

Waters, L., & Loton, D. (2019). SEARCH: A Meta-Framework and Review of the Field of Positive Education. International Journal of Applied Positive Psychology, 4(1), 1–46. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41042-019-00017-4