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“God is my doctor”: mindfulness Principals to

manage work-
meditation/prayer as a spiritual related stress

well-being coping strategy for

Jamaican school principals to 467
manage their work-related stress Received 13 June 2019
Revised 10 December 2019

and anxiety 20 March 2020

7 May 2020
Accepted 7 May 2020
Annette Rosemarie Walker
Faculty of Education, University of Western Ontario, London Ontario, Canada

Abstract
Purpose – This article explores Jamaican secondary school principals’ use of mindfulness meditation as a
spiritual well-being strategy to manage their work-related stress and anxiety.
Design/methodology/approach – The author used qualitative semi-structured interviews to collect the data
from 12 Jamaican secondary school principals working in schools supporting rural, urban and inner-city school
communities. Thematic coding of the analyzed data was used to understand how principals deal with their
work-related stress and anxiety.
Findings – The findings indicate that Jamaican school principals are experiencing work-related stress and
anxiety as a result of work intensification, and use mindfulness meditation/prayer as a spiritual coping
strategy. The data indicate that principals’ primary source of support is their spiritual belief – faith in God and
mindfulness meditation/prayer – when dealing with issues related to well-being.
Originality/value – This article explores the use of mindfulness meditation as a non-secular coping strategy,
and focuses on an understudied area of educational administration research: Jamaican school principals’ well-
being. The findings can help inform future education and health policy around occupational health and well-
being for professionals, and lay the foundation for greater studies on principal well-being in Jamaican and the
Caribbean more generally.
Keywords Mindfulness meditation, Anxiety, Well-being, Work, Work intensification, Work-related stress,
Leadership, Jamaican, Principals
Paper type Research paper

Introduction
The multifaceted, challenging and complex nature of school principals’ work has implications
for their well-being. Interest in the impact of school principals’ work on their well-being has
gained traction, more pervasively, in developed nations – Australia, Canada and Ireland. The
findings from these different contexts indicate that increased workload and work demands
affect school principals’ well-being (Armstrong, 2014; Robinson, 2018; Pollock and Wang,
2019; Pollock et al., 2014, 2015; Riley, 2016, 2017, 2019). Evidence from these emerging studies
and others intimates that technological advancement and increased use of Information
Communication Technology (ICT), standardized curriculum and practices, role ambiguity
and role conflict are some of the main sources of principals’ workload and work demands
(Pollock and Hauseman, 2018). Comparable studies conducted in the Netherlands and the
United Kingdom further suggest that work-related stress among educators is the highest
Journal of Educational
when compared to employees in the health, industrial and other professions (Phillips and Sen, Administration
2011; Riley, 2016, 2017). In coping with their well-being issues, principals in some of these Vol. 58 No. 4, 2020
pp. 467-480
contexts have relied on their social networks, physical activities, self-medication, among © Emerald Publishing Limited
0957-8234
others (Pollock et al., 2015; Riley, 2017). Yet, embedded in similar research such as Riley’s DOI 10.1108/JEA-06-2019-0097
JEA (2019) is the idea of principals experiencing a reduction in their spiritual practice from 35 to
58,4 25% (over an eight-year period – 2011–2018), without any specific focus on mindfulness
meditation as a source of support when trying to cope with their work-related stress and
anxiety. While exploration of this phenomenon – principals’ well-being – is not new to
developing countries (Nhundu, 1999), the few existing studies do not address how principals
in the Caribbean deal with their work-related stress and anxiety.
This article explores Jamaican secondary school principals’ use of mindfulness meditation
468 as a spiritual well-being coping strategy, rooted in their Christian spiritual beliefs and
relationship with their God, in response to work-related stress and anxiety. I entered this
study with an outsider perspective about the influence of work intensification on principals’
well-being specific to their experience with work-related stress and anxiety. As a Black
Jamaican born woman with deep roots in my country, my lived experiences as a former
teacher in a rural community, graduate student and researcher informed my understanding
of Jamaican secondary school principals’ work. The intricate details of how Jamaican
principals’ work were unknown to me and also the type of strategies principals in Jamaica use
to cope with the stress and anxiety they experience as a result of their work. Through my data
analysis, I discovered that principals are largely using mindfulness meditation to cope with
work-related stress and anxiety; more specifically, I discovered that these principals
conceptualize mindfulness meditation as an intrinsic part of their Christian spiritual beliefs,
and rely on this individualized, internal coping mechanism as a result of cultural stigma
around discussing mental health. Although mindfulness practices and meditation are
associated with many different religions, in this article I focus specifically on principals using
mindfulness meditation as a dimension of their Christian beliefs, regardless of denomination,
because of Jamaica’s specific sociocultural and educational context.

Background and context

Education and the Christian Church
Education in Jamaica is largely adopted from the British education system. Jamaica’s
independence in 1962 did not preclude or eradicate British influence on the sociopolitical and
economic landscape that shaped how schools are governed and managed. The Ministry of
Education Youth and Information (MoEYI) and municipal school districts oversee and
manage all six regions in Jamaica (Francis, 2014; Munroe, 2001). A total of 161 secondary
schools are situated across these six regions, with an enrolment of 206,261 students from
Grades 7–13 (Statistical Institute of Jamaica, 2018; World Education News and Reviews
(WENR), 2019). Despite its growing population of students, Jamaica’s education system still
maintains a bureaucratic and classist structure that has lingered from the colonial era. This
classist structure is reflected in distinctions of secondary school type in the education system:
Church, trust and government owned.
Church, trust and government owned schools fall under the umbrella of the MoEYI.
Church and trust schools were established during the colonial period to educate the children
of the colonists, however, and are otherwise regarded as “traditional” schools. These 35
traditional schools are known for their long-standing principles of discipline and high
academic achievement (Statistical Institute of Jamaica, 2018; Munroe, 2001). Church and trust
schools are also adequately resourced with evidence of ongoing access to financial capital
from alumni and other stakeholders that help to offset deficits after accounting for expenses
with allocated monies from the MoEYI (WENR, 2019; Miller, 2016a, 2018). These resources
extend to infrastructural development to accommodate continued growth in student
population (Wilson-Harris, 2018). Unlike Church and trust schools, many of the 126
government-owned schools were built during the colonial period to accommodate Black
students from working poor families (Munroe, 2001; Francis, 2014; Statistical Institute of
Jamaica, 2018). The Jamaican government replicated similar school structure and governance Principals to
from the colonial era to ensure uniformity in standards. Adopting patterns of the past include manage work-
having affiliated Christian denominational school boards – such as Anglican and Baptist – to
support school systems in all the nation’s secondary schools (Arthur et al., 2010; Arthur and
related stress
Whitley, 2015). The Church is, therefore, integral to school culture, discipline and values with
teachings integrated in the school curriculum (Arthur and Whitley, 2015).

Structural reform and adopted leadership standards 469

Although the government has carried out ongoing educational reforms to democratize
education at the secondary level, there still remain patterns of inequity that bear striking
resemblance to the past (Munroe, 2001). Other markers of the remnants of colonial past
include the British influence on the nation’s education system specific to entrenched Euro-
Western notions of learning, despite the push toward revising the curriculum to reflect
Caribbean and Jamaican contexts (Miller, 2015; Munroe, 2001). There also still exists the
pervasive use of streamlining students, school choice and financial inequity across public
schools (Miller, 2015).
Despite these changes, the government of Jamaica continues to stress the importance of
having highly qualified principals. Although promotion to the role of principal has largely
been based on years of service as teacher and affiliation with Church and school boards, the
government has sought to focus on meritocracy (Miller, 2014). More emphasis has since been
placed on principals having more than a diploma and undergraduate degree in education but
being qualified in the area of educational leadership with experience in the role as vice
principal (Miller, 2014). Having such qualified workforce is highlighted in the nation’s Vision
2030 plan as integral to achieving the goal of becoming a developed nation (Planning Institute
of Jamaica [PIoJ], 2009). Structural reforms have reoriented principals toward meeting
competence-based leadership standards [1] that guide their roles and responsibilities to meet
21st-century competencies (Knight and Rapley, 2007; Marope, 2017). Emphasis on school
effectiveness requires Jamaican secondary school principals to carry out their leadership
duties through adherence to specific actions, decisions and behaviours such as: setting a clear
vision, engaging in systems thinking, implementing and managing curricula programs,
supervising and evaluating teachers and staff, while being efficient in managing human,
financial and material resources to achieve school goals (Davis, 2004). The MoEYI has re-
engineered these aspects of Jamaican secondary school principals’ work to fit within the mold
of the British education system while adopting leadership policies from the North American
context (Miller, 2015, 2016a, b).
In addition to these noted leadership duties, Jamaican secondary school principals carry
out duties that are unique to their context. Such duties as mandated through policy
regulations require secondary principals to carry out additional tasks, such as fundraising –
an entrepreneurial leadership approach, to procure additional financial resources from key
constituents to support school programs and infrastructural development (Miller, 2016a,
2018). This presents challenges for secondary school principals operating in diverse
geographical localities, specifically rural and inner-city communities where access to
resources from their school communities is limited (Miller, 2016a, 2018). Contributing to this
problem is the country’s unstable socioeconomic climate, which further impacts the safety,
security and health of schools. For example, principals operating in volatile communities are
also faced with the challenge of procuring resources to enforce security that restrict
incidences of crime and violence. The role of these and other secondary school principals
extends to them promoting practices that will encourage a positive state of well-being among
students through the establishment of the safe school policy (Davis, 2004; MoEYI, 2008;
2015a, b). An examination of Jamaican secondary school principals work and its influence on
their well-being is timely, given the few reported incidences of suicide among Jamaican
JEA educators (MoEYI, 2014; Jamaica Observer, 2016). Such incidences point to the absence of
58,4 policy and programs to support Jamaican secondary school principals’ well-being and the
deficit in social and emotional support principals receive to help them balance their
professional and personal lives (MoEYI, 2014). To date, there is no existing evidence of
policies or programs that the MoEYI of Jamaica has implemented or will implement to
address and prioritize Jamaican principals’ well-being. Without the requisite support for their
well-being, Jamaican principals are likely exposed to similar well-being issues, such as work-
470 related stress and anxiety, that principals in other jurisdictions have experienced.

Mental health stigma

Mental health stigma, a sociocultural issue, is pervasive in the Caribbean and Jamaican
contexts (Arthur et al., 2010). Stigma, relative to mental health, addresses the stereotypes,
discrimination, prejudice and negative labels associated with any symptoms of this issue
(Arthur et al., 2010; Hickling et al., 2011). Evidence from these bodies of research indicated that
mental health issues in Jamaica are linked to matters associated with trauma, the vestiges of
slavery and colonial occupation (Arthur et al., 2010). Despite increased awareness of mental
health issues such as anxiety and depression, access to care and support at the community
and national levels remains a problem because of the associated stigma (Hickling et al., 2011).
To date, this has remained an issue for the mentally ill in the Caribbean more generally and
Jamaica specifically, with researchers providing congruent perspectives that it is considered
a weakness, spiritual problem and a form of abnormality that is embedded in the society
(Arthur et al., 2010; Clarke, 2018; Hickling et al., 2011).

Literature review
In this section, I overview the relevant literature on school principals’ work intensification,
their coping strategies, work-related stress and anxiety and spiritual beliefs and mindfulness
meditation.

School principals’ work intensification in Jamaica

Ample research has demonstrated that the work of school principals in North America and
Europe is changing (Phillips and Sen, 2011; Pollock et al., 2014, 2015, Wang et al., 2019), and
that they are experiencing work intensification as a result. School leaders’ work
intensification is characterized by increased volume of existing work, limited resources to
meet work demands, additional tasks, increased pace of work and long hours (Pollock et al.,
2015). Emerging research has indicated that Jamaican school leaders are also experiencing
work intensification, and that this work intensification is contributing to work-related stress
and anxiety (Miller, 2016a, 2018; Walker, forthcoming). The aspects of work intensification
that are affecting Jamaican principals in particular are influenced by their geographical and
community contexts: they have limited resources to meet work demands and have many
additional tasks related to finances and fundraising (Walker, forthcoming). Most Jamaican
school principals grapple with the challenge of working with limited resources to meet work
demands. For some Jamaican secondary school principals who work in rural and inner-city
school communities, the financial resources provided by the MoEYI are often inadequate to
meet their work demands – in other words, these principals work without the requisite
financial capital necessary for their school programming and infrastructure development
(Davis, 2004; Miller, 2016a, 2018; Davis, 2004; 2008; PIoJ, 2009; Walker, forthcoming). As a
consequence, secondary school principals in Jamaican carry out additional tasks – duties that
principals carry out to obtain needed resources – to meet their school needs (Miller,
2016a, 2018).
 For secondary school principals in Jamaica, ongoing structural reform and regulations Principals to
create additional tasks for principals to carry out in addition to their existing work, which manage work-
further adds to their existing workload (Green, 2004; Miller, 2016a). Examination of Jamaican
secondary school principals’ work in rural communities pointed to this component of work
related stress
intensification as an important aspect of their work (Miller, 2016a, 2018). This researcher
categorized this aspect of their work as entrepreneurial leadership because most Jamaican
principals engage in innovative practices such as fundraising events to raise additional
financial resources to support their schools (Miller, 2016a, 2018). In addition to carrying out 471
fundraising activities, Jamaican secondary school principals are engaged in solicitation
through networks of support with alumni; a policy mandate to reduce gaps in their
expenditures (Miller, 2018). Fundraising events and solicitation for resources from alumni
also form part of principals’ financial work; a key aspect of their management duties that
includes procurement of resources and budget preparation among others (MoEYI, 2014).
Such duties have shown to increase principals’ experience with work-related stress and
anxiety (Riley, 2017).

Work-related stress and anxiety

Work-related stress is the pressure or strain principals’ experience as a result of different
work demands. School principals’ work-related stress is evident when their adaptability to
change runs counter to their goals and capacity to manage the existing challenges in their
work environment (Wells, 2013, 2015, 2016); scholars have shown that this stress influences
their mental, emotional, psychological and spiritual well-being (Pan et al., 2015). Researchers
have also described anxiety as a normal emotion that can affect principals’ mental well-being
when it rises above normal levels because of work pressure (Bacon et al., 2014; Pan et al., 2015).
In other words, anxiety is the psychological response to work pressure that results from
increased workload and work demands; this anxiety can invoke feelings of tension, an
inability to concentrate, nervousness, fear of the unknown, panic and doubt (Klocko and
Wells, 2015; Bacon et al., 2014; Pan et al., 2015; Wells, 2016). These two well-being issues –
work-related stress and anxiety – are common among school principals who work without
the necessary resources to meet work demands and carry out additional tasks to balance the
financial deficits and offset expenses (Pollock et al., 2015; Wells and Klocko, 2018; Wells et al.,
2011; Walker, forthcoming). Other research has examined the impact of work-related stress
and anxiety on multiple forms of well-being, but in this article, I am specifically looking at
spiritual well-being and one connected well-being strategy: mindfulness meditation.

School principals’ coping strategies

School principals across different jurisdictions engage in a wide range of strategies to cope
with work-related stress and anxiety. These coping strategies include confiding in their
partners, talking with colleagues, spending time with family and friends, engaging in
physical activities/exercise, and seeking support through their spiritual beliefs/prayers
among others (Pollock and Wang, 2019; Walker, forthcoming). In their study on principals
working in French-language schools in Ontario, Canada – including both French Public and
French Catholic schools – Pollock and Wang (2019) found that the top three coping strategies
principals engage to cope with their challenges at work and their well-being issues included
talking with their colleagues (64.4%), spending time with friends and family (63.3%) and
engaging in physical activities/exercise (58.5%). However, only a few of the principals in their
study reported using prayer (17.6%) as a coping strategy. In his study on Australian
principals, Riley (2019) reported similar findings, with principals largely confiding in their
partners (78%), colleagues (68%), friends (64%) and family members (48%), whereas only
25% identified spiritual practice as their main source of support.
JEA Spiritual beliefs and mindfulness meditation
58,4 As I stated previously, mindfulness meditation is not exclusively associated with Christian
spirituality. For the purposes of this article, however, I focus almost exclusively on the
practice as part and parcel of Christian belief, because that is how my participants
conceptualized their use of the strategy. Generally speaking, spiritual belief is faith in a
supernatural power; this faith can provide a sense of purpose and support when confronted
with challenges (Fisher, 2001, 2011; Fisher and Ng, 2017, Mehdinzhad and Nouri, 2016;
472 Schwebel, 2017). Researchers have argued that spiritual belief is subjective and
socioculturally related to individuals’ background and understanding of life, and that
people can be spiritual without having any affiliation with religious groups (Bellous and
Csinos, 2009; Faull, 2012). Some researchers have argued that professionals’ spiritual beliefs
and affiliation with different religious groups can help improve their emotional, psychological
and mental well-being specific to reducing stress levels and improving symptoms of
depression, and anxiety mental, physical, social and emotional/ psychological well-being
(Brown-Smythe, 2015; Byrd et al., 2000; Ellison, 1991; Fisher, 2011; Fisher and Ng, 2017;
Greenfield and Mark, 2007). In general, there is currently a dearth of literature on the
principalship in the Jamaican context and their use of mindfulness meditation and prayer, as
connected to their spiritual beliefs, as a coping strategy to deal with work-related stress and
anxiety. The few existing studies in the Jamaican context have focused on students’ spiritual
beliefs in God as a strategy to cope with their stress, depression and anxiety in school (Brown-
Smythe, 2015). This dependence on their spiritual belief in God is based on the majority of
Jamaican citizens affiliation with the Christian religion and practice regardless of their
denominational preference such as Baptists (Allen and Khan, 2014).
Kabat-Zinn’s defined mindfulness as the ability to “pay attention in a particular way: on
purpose, in the present moment, and nonjudgmentally” (Kabat-Zinn, 1994, p. 4). Specific to the
principalship, Mahfouz (2018) and Wells (2016) described mindfulness for principals as being
intentionally present and in tune with their thoughts and emotions without judgment. Some
scholars have suggested that mindfulness is strengthened and enhanced through the practice
of meditation (Grecucci et al., 2015), which is the act of being purposefully focused in the
present moment without giving attention to external distractions (Grecucci et al., 2015;
Mahfouz, 2018). Mindfulness meditation as a strategy can enhance interpersonal, and
intrapersonal skills, morality, sense of peace, as well as tolerance and compassion for others
in turbulent times, while being present without judgment (Klocko and Wells, 2015; Mathad et
al., 2019; Robinson, 2017; Walker, forthcoming; Wells, 2016; Wells and Klocko, 2018). Studies
across different disciplines have also noted that mindfulness meditation is associated with
physical activities, such as yoga, that can help manage stress and anxiety (Bergland, 2015;
Boellinghaus et al., 2014; Felce and Perry, 1995; Gupta, 2015; Jayatilake, 2017). In this article, I
specifically look at mindfulness meditation as it is used by Christian principals in Jamaica: a
spiritual coping strategy to deal with work-related stress and anxiety. Some scholars have
demonstrated that mindfulness meditation can enhance spiritual well-being (Ilda and
Shapiro, 2017; Nelson, 2017; Walker, forthcoming). For the principals in this study, their
spiritual beliefs are connected to their God, and mindfulness meditation is their way of
meditating on the word of God through prayer.

Methodology
In 2017, I conducted a qualitative study on Jamaican secondary school principals’ well-being.
I used purposeful, convenience and snowballing sampling to gain access to Jamaican
secondary school principals operating in different geographical localities and genders
(Creswell, 2013; Lichtman, 2013; Patton, 2015). Given that very little is known about these
principals’ use of mindfulness meditation as a spiritual coping strategy to deal with
work-related stress and anxiety, I interviewed female and male principals working in schools Principals to
supporting rural, urban, and inner-city school communities. These principals were in various manage work-
stages of their career: early (0–5 years), mid (6–10 years) and late (11 plus years) career
(Hvidston et al., 2015). I received permission from the MoEYI to proceed with the study. All of
related stress
the 12 schools operate during the day and are Church, trust and government owned. The
cohort of students in the majority of these schools are mixed gender, while a few are single
gender. A total of 12 secondary school principals participated in 45–60 min semi-structured
interviews in January 2017 and September 2018. 473
At the time of the interview, five principals were in their early careers, three in their mid-
careers and four in their late careers. Of the 12 principals, five identified as female and seven
as male. I asked principals several questions and sub-questions relevant to my key research
questions and based on the following categories: background, leadership, challenges and
strategies. The specific question relevant to the findings I present in this article was, “How has
the work of the principalship compromised your well-being over the past one – two years?”
I asked principals follow-up questions about their intensifying work and their experiences
with work-related stress and anxiety. I also asked, “How do you maintain good well-being?” –
to inform the overall purpose of the study. I engaged in an iterative process to analyze the
data. In the initial phase of data analysis, I continuously reviewed and juxtaposed the
transcripts and evaluated their connection to well-being issues. I used thematic analysis to
“identify, analyze, and report the patterns (themes) within the data” (Braun and Clarke, 2006,
p. 79). This helped to create a two-level coding system that generated major themes and sub-
themes from the data (Bogdan and Biklen, 2003, 2007; Creswell, 2012; Merriam, 1998; 2009).
This process helped me identify convergent and divergent views among principals (male and
female) working in different geographic localities. I then looked at the emerging patterns and
trends in the data to determine their relevance to work-related stress and anxiety issues
Jamaican secondary school principals experience and their use of mindfulness meditation and
prayer to cope with well-being issues.

Findings
In this section, I present my findings on Jamaican school principals’ work-related stress and
anxiety, and their use of mindfulness meditation as a spiritual coping strategy in response.

Work-related stress and anxiety

The majority of the principals I interviewed described experiencing work-related stress and
anxiety; overall, these well-being issues largely stemmed from two components of work
intensification: lack of resources to meet work demands and additional tasks they carry out to
procure needed resources to balance their budget. This concern – financial resources, or lack
thereof – was more common among principals operating in rural and inner-city school
communities. For example, Principal 1 worked in a school that supports an inner-city
community, and he explained that his experience with stress is “inherent in the job as a
principal, in Jamaica. . .because I struggle with a lack of resources. . .sometimes that issue
puts me under pressure.” This feeling of pressure was not restricted to Principal 1: other
principals also found that their ongoing stress was connected to the geographical locality of
their school. As Principal 5 explained, “We need the resources to make ideas materialize. . .I
go through periods of stress and. . .sometimes anxiety when I cannot find the money.” For
this principal and others, their school type does not result in consistent support from
stakeholders. According to this participant, the ministry does not own Church schools;
therefore, financial resources for infrastructural development to enhance student learning is
limited. As a consequence, they experience layers of stress that result in anxiety. As Principal
JEA 11 shared, “When I go home in the evenings, I am still thinking about how to fix things and get
58,4 the resources and so there is a lot of tension and anxiety.” This participant experienced
anxiety borne of stress about how to acquire and manage the resources they need to support
programs and offset budgetary expenses: the anxiety extended beyond work hours and into
their time at home.
Principal 3, who worked in a rural context, also described their experience with anxiety: “I
struggle with anxiety. . .I feel anxious [because] the expectations are high with limited
474 resources. . .[and] not having the money needed to pay our suppliers.” Inability to pay
suppliers was a common thread of concern among other participants who grappled with
anxiety, because they also carried out additional tasks to secure financial capital. Such was
also the case for Principal 12, who explained that “sometimes I feel anxious because we are so
focused on getting in touch with the right people. . .organizing fundraising [events]. . .and not
being sure if we will balance the budget.” For this principal, limited social networks within the
school community thwarted their efforts to resource their school.

Mindfulness meditation/prayer as a spiritual coping strategy

The participants in this study conceptualized their use of mindfulness meditation/prayer as
connected to their belief in God. They relied on their relationship with, faith in and trust in a
higher being to cope with the stress and anxiety they experience as a result of their work and
work intensification (Mehdinzhad and Nouri, 2016; Walker, forthcoming). For example,
Principal 3 shared that when dealing with challenges such as operating with limited
resources to meet work demands, he “talks to doctor God [and] also meditate. . .my quiet
moments with meditation help me to stay present. . .[because] when [I] am overworked or
thinking too much I feel anxious.” For this principal, meditation is a form of prayer, which he
uses to stay “present.” Principal 5 described using mindfulness meditation and prayer in a
similar way: “One of the things I practice. . .when feeling stressed. . .is I depend on the Lord; I
try to garner my strength from him. . .through deep reflection.” This was a recurrent theme
among the participants’ responses – gathering their strength through quiet reflection on God.
What crucially connects many of the participants’ understandings of mindfulness and
meditation is that they do not see them as separate from their spiritual beliefs but rather as
fundamentally part of these beliefs. For these principals, their hope in a higher power
decreased their stress and anxiety; more specifically, this enabled them to let God “take
control.” As Principal 11 explained, “I am confronted with several challenges daily, [but] once
I identify the origin of my stress or anxiety, I speak to the situation and remind myself that
through the word of God that the Lord will take me through.” Principal 10 described a similar
relationship: “I am a spiritual. . .and faith person. . .[and] deeply religious. When I am dealing
with stress. . .[and] anxiety, I always ask God to take control. . .I can tell you that there are
days when I just sit in my office and ask God to help me. Praying is my go to support.” Other
principals specifically described relying on scriptures and meditating on the word of God as a
source of support: “I pray a lot and I rely on the scriptures to guide me in stressful times”
(Principal 9); “I consider what the word of God says and I pray a lot and. . ..sometimes I
meditate on the word when things get too difficult” (Principal 11).
Participants also described relying on mindfulness meditation and prayer to mitigate the
effects of physical well-being issues, such as headaches and high blood pressure. As Principal
2 explained, “I have unexpected tension headaches [and] experience tension when I am
home. . . which is due to the amount of thinking I engage in about my work, the debt. . .and
that is the point in which I know that I need to lay down, relax and meditate on the word of
God.” Principal 4 noted that this practice allowed them to stabilize emotions during stressful
times: “I am a Christian [and] God is central to my life and how I operate. . .I include
meditation in my daily routine to relax...it helps with lowering my blood pressure. . .[and] to
keep me calm.” Principal 4 further explained, however, that consistency in maintaining this
practice of mindfulness meditation/prayer as part of the daily routine is “at times. . .not Principals to
possible because of work but I know it works.” manage work-
According to the interview data, a driving force behind principals’ use of mindfulness
meditation and prayer was a need – both internal and external – to manage their stress and
related stress
anxiety in solitude. As Principal 9 explained, “When I am confronted with budgetary
problems and other issues. . . I have to take a step back, close the door, take deep breaths,
[and] meditate for a few minutes. . .this helps with my sanity. . .[and] keeps me grounded.”
Principal 5 described a similar process of reclusion: “I try to garner my strength from him [in 475
my] alone moments.” One participant described relying on their partner for support, but even
this came with a caveat:
Well, what I have practiced over the years is to talk to my husband I will tell him exactly how I am
feeling, but sometimes he also has his own stress and doesn’t want to hear everything. . .So, I turn to
prayer.
Even though this participant can occasionally rely on her partner for external support,
ultimately she turns to prayer more consistently. She also connected this to the need to appear
“strong”: “The work is stressful. Not having all the resources is very stressful, that adds more
to my stress and anxiety sometimes. . .you have to be strong and I always do better when I
pray to God.”

Discussion
My findings indicate that Jamaican secondary school principals use mindfulness meditation/
prayer as a spiritual coping strategy to manage their work-related stress and anxiety.
Participants use this strategy as their primary source of support because their work is
intensifying, which is exacerbated by the nation’s economic standing: due to lack of funding
and proper resourcing, most secondary school principals grapple with limited resources to
meet increased work demands (Miller, 2018). Circumventing this problem requires Jamaican
school principals to carry out additional tasks to fill financial gaps and find necessary
resources to advance their curricular programs. These two components of work
intensification highlight existing inequities, emanating from the colonial period, that are
influencing principals’ experience with work-related stress and anxiety, and requiring them
to participate in coping strategies to promote their own well-being.
My findings highlight a concerning reality for Jamaican school principals: they primarily
rely on mindfulness meditation/prayer as a spiritual coping strategy instead of accessing
medical services to support their emotional/psychological and mental well-being issues. This
is in contrast to findings about principals’ coping strategies in Australia (Riley, 2019) and
Canada (Pollock, 2014), where principals are more reliant on friends and family. This is likely
due to cultural stigma, an existing sociocultural and structural problem that appears to put
principals in a vulnerable position while preventing access to care (Jackson and
Heatherington, 2006; Arthur et al., 2010; Hickling et al., 2011). This is cause for concern for
the future of the principalship in Jamaica, especially given the lack of support for educators’
well-being at the government level (Arthur et al., 2010; Arthur and Whitley, 2015; Clarke,
2018). Attending to these issues will require the Ministry of Education, Youth and
Information (MoEYI) to enhance their existing mental well-being awareness programs while
engaging in more sensitization about mental well-being stigma. Although engaging in
mindfulness meditation and prayer does seem to benefit their cognitive, emotional/
psychological, physical and mental well-being (Galdersi et al, 2017; Jayatilake, 2017; Wells,
2016), my findings suggest that Jamaican secondary school principals are not able to access
necessary mental health supports and are not having adequate downtime, which illuminate
the need for governmental bodies such as the MoEYI to prioritizing principals’ well-being.
JEA This is especially important given the government’s focus on principals’ role in enhancing
58,4 student achievement to realize the nation’s Vision 2030 plan to “achieve developed country
status” (PIoJ, 2009, p. 4). With Jamaican principals’ work intensifying because of the nation’s
socioeconomic standing, they are faced with unique issues that need to be further explored to
extend the requisite support for their well-being.

Conclusion
476 We know that Jamaican school principals’ work is intensifying, and that they are
experiencing work-related anxiety and stress as a result of having limited resources to meet
increased work demands and additional tasks. My findings have demonstrated that the
majority of Jamaican school principals are relying on mindfulness meditation and prayer as
their main coping strategy, and they do not view this as separate from their belief in God, but
rather as a part of their spiritual beliefs. Part of this reliance is due to the existing structural
and sociocultural stigma in wider Jamaican society around discussing mental health issues.
Educational and health policymakers could potentially use these findings to inform
occupational health and safety policy for professionals. The increased rate of suicide among
educators points to the urgent need for these policy interventions. Moreover, the findings
presented in this article can build a foundation for larger studies on mental health and well-
being for Jamaican principals, and create space for discussions around non-secular
mindfulness practice in well-being.

Note
1. In this article, standards “refer to a widely agreed, accepted, and sometimes mandatory level of
quality or attainment” (MoEYI, 2015a, p. 10) to improve students’ achievement. Standards are also
considered as measures, norms, aspirational, directional and consistent that require compliance
(MoEYI, 2015b).

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Further reading
Kabat-Zinn, J. (2003), “Mindfulness-based interventions in context: past, present, and future”, Clinical
Psychology: Science and Practice, Vol. 10, pp. 144-156.

Corresponding author
Annette Rosemarie Walker can be contacted at: awalk33@uwo.ca

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