The Need to Process Emotion Connected With Conflict Surrounding These
Differences
Many of the dilemmas school principals face in today’s educational and societal context in
the US are difficult to address on an emotional level and require intentional self-talk and
interaction to process the situation. The school principal articulated her process for
decision-making as follows:
I don’t make decisions fast. I take time. If I didn’t have my yoga, I would be a mess. I
have to listen to what my heart, mind, and emotion are telling me and process my
emotion, not let it control me. Conflict is challenging. Not everyone has the same values
or the same ideas. I use what I learn to know what to do next. I’m not authoritarian so I
always meet with staff and take these concerns to them. We use each other’s ideas. We
work together to change things as needed based on what we have learned through
listening to ourselves and our emotion as a guide and then process that emotion in
productive ways rather than letting it become a stressor for us. If we don’t have the
answers for all the dilemmas we face, we have to keep an open mind and remember
that being judgmental doesn’t help improve students. Our main role as an administrator