A lack of boundaries and a fiercely competitive culture is being cited for a trend of abusive behaviour towards principals at some of Sydney's most exclusive private schools.
The case has since been settled and the school and members of staff have issued an apology to Ms Kelliher."It’s easy for some staff who are long-standing members of any institution to get into a 'bubble' where they can’t see beyond their limited views and confines," Ms Kelliher told"Values can become distorted by a sense of entitlement and ego. The atmosphere in the school leading up to this event was one of hysteria and mob rule.
Philip Riley, an associate professor at the Australian Catholic University and chief researcher for the annual Principal Occupational Health, Safety and Wellbeing Survey, said that bullying of principals by parents and staff in some cases has "just been continually getting worse every year". Helen Wright, who led prestigious girls' school Ascham in Sydney's east for a year before divisions emerged between Dr Wright and the school's board, is now an international education advisor who coaches principals in Australia and other countries.that "there's a boundary-lessness that has crept in" in the way parents, teachers and principals interact with one another in recent years and it needs to be addressed.
The story is a couple of ex-principals who lost their jobs for poor performance blame culture rather than their own performance.
Time to end taxpayer handouts.