COVID-19 Crisis Management in Schools: A Look at the Skills and Practices of Québec’s School Principals

Article Sidebar

PDF

Section

Research Articles

Issue

Volume 1 Issue 1 (2025): In Progress

How to Cite

Anne-Michèle, D., Lemieux, O., & Bernatchez, J. (2025). COVID-19 Crisis Management in Schools: A Look at the Skills and Practices of Québec’s School Principals. Crisis and Resilience, 1(1), 6-21. https://journals.explorerpress.com/index.php/cr/article/view/21

Main Article Content

Authors

Delobbe Anne-Michèle*
Université du Québec à Rimouski, Rimouski, QC G5L 3A1, Canada
Olivier Lemieux
Université du Québec à Rimouski, Rimouski, QC G5L 3A1, Canada
Jean Bernatchez
Université du Québec à Rimouski, Rimouski, QC G5L 3A1, Canada

Abstract

This article proposes to identify the various practices implemented by the principals of Québec’s public elementary and secondary schools in order to ensure the academic and educational success of the greatest number of students during the first wave of COVID-19 in 2020. The analysis is based on data collected through semi-structured interviews with twelve school principals and vice-principals. The analysis of the results reveals practices related to budget and financial management, human resources management, leadership, planning and communication. The directors’ and assistant directors’ views on their crisis management practices are discussed in terms of the skills they need to develop during their training and throughout their career.

Keywords:
crisis management, school management, professional skills, educational activities

Article Details

References

[1] Institut national de la santé publique du Québec (INSPQ) (2021). Ligne du temps COVID-19 au Québec.

[2] Lemieux O., Bernatchez J. and Delobbe A.-M. (2021). Gestion de crise et éducation au Québec : les représentations des directions d’établissement sur les rôles et les responsabilités des acteurs scolaires en temps de COVID-19. Interventions économiques, 66, 1-20. https://doi.org/10.4000/interventionseconomiques.14403

[3] Lemieux O., Bernatchez J. and Delobbe A.-M. (2020). Gestion de crise en milieu scolaire. CTREQ.

[4] Ministère de l’Éducation, du Loisir et du Sport (2008). La formation à la gestion d’un établissement d’enseignement. Les orientations et les compétences professionnelles. Québec : Gouvernement du Québec. http://www.education.gouv.qc.ca/fileadmin/site_web/

[5] Brassard A. (2009). De principal d’école ou supérieur à directeur d’établissement au primaire et au secondaire (1840-2009). Le Point en administration de l’éducation, 12 (1), 9-15.

[6] Commission Parent (1964). Rapport Parent, Tome II. Gouvernement du Québec.

[7] Bernatchez J. (2011). La formation des directions d’établissement scolaire au Québec : apprendre à développer un savoir-agir complexe. Télescope, 17 (3), 158-175.

[8] Ministère de l’Éducation du Québec (2001). La formation à l’enseignement : les orientations, les compétences professionnelles. Québec : Ministère de l’Éducation du Québec.

[9] Ministère de l’Éducation du Québec (2020). Référentiel compétences professionnelles : profession enseignante. Québec : Ministère de l’Éducation du Québec.

[10] Conseil superieur de l’éducation (2019). Projet de règlement modifiant le Règlement sur les autorisations d’enseigner. Avis au ministre de l’éducation et de l’enseignement supérieur. Gouvernement du Québec.

[11] Libaert T. (2018). Communication de crise. Pearson.

[12] Bergamo L. (2017). Communication de crise et systèmes d’alerte socionumériques : de nouveaux outils pour répondre aux attentes des publics en situation de crise? Master, Université du Québec à Montréal, Archipel UQAM.

[13] Boumrar J. (2010). La crise : levier stratégique d’apprentissage organisationnel. Vie & sciences de l’entreprise, 185-186 (3), 13-26.

[14] Harvard Business Essentials (2011). L’essentiel pour manager en temps de crise. ESF Editor.

[15] Heiderich D. (2010). Plan de gestion de crise. Dunod.

[16] Roux-Dufort C. (2009). Une théorie de la crise en sciences de gestion. Cachan : Lavoisier.

[17] Kavrayıcı C., and Kesim E. (2021). School management during the COVID-19 pandemic: A qualitative study. Kuram ve Uygulamada Eğitim Yönetimi, 27(1), 1005-1060. https://doi.org/10.17762/kuey.v27i1.4

[18] Kaul M., VanGronigen B. A. and Simon N. S. (2020). Calm during crisis: school principal approaches to crisis management during the COVID-19 pandemic. CPRE Policy Briefs, 1-12.

[19] Tamtik M. and Darazsi S. (2022). Navigating Turbulent Waters : Leading One Manitoba School in a Time of Crisis. Canadian Journal of Educational Administration and Policy/Revue canadienne en administration et politique de l’éducation, (200), 22-36. https://doi.org/10.7202/1092705ar

[20] Savoie-Zajc, L. (2009). L’entrevue semi-dirigée. In: Gauthier B. (ed.). Recherche sociale. De la problématique à la collecte des données (pp. 337-360). Presses de l’Université du Québec.

[21] Clément L. (2014). La gestion d’un établissement d’enseignement privé québécois : Réflexion centrée sur l’organisation du travail des directeurs-trices. Revue Canadienne des Jeunes Chercheur (e) s en Éducation, 5 (2), 82-91.

[22] Van der Maren J.-M. (2004). Méthodes de recherche pour l’éducation. Éducation et formation. Fondements. Presses de l’Université de Montréal.

[23] Krumpal I. (2013). Determinants of social desirability bias in sensitive surveys: a literature review. Qual Quant, 47(4), 2025-2047. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11135-011-9640-9

[24] STRIEPE, M., and CUNNINGHAM, C. (2021). Understanding educational leadership during times of crises: a scoping review. Journal of Educational Administration, 60(2), 133-147. https://doi.org/10.1108/JEA-03-2021-0057

[25] ADAMS, D., CHEAH, K., THIEN, L., and MD YUSOFF, N. (2024). Leading schools through the COVID-19 crisis in a South-East Asian country. Management in Education, 38(2), 72-78. https://doi.org/10.1177/08920206211037738

[26] BRION, C. and KIRAL, B. (2021). COVID-19 Crisis Challenges and Management Strategies of Educational Leaders in America. International Journal of Contemporary Educational Research,8(4), 170-183.https://doi.org/10.33200/ijcer.943568

[27] HAYES, S.D. and DERRINGTON, M. L. (2023) School leadership in uncertain times: identifying dimensions of effective principal leadership, School Leadership & Management, 43:4, 330-347, DOI: 10.1080/13632434.2023.2171002

[28] SMITH, L. and RILEY, D. (2012). School leadership in times of crisis. School Leadership & Management, 32(1), 57-71. https://doi.org/10.1080/13632434.2011.614941

[29] Judge T. A., Hofmans J. and Wille B. (2017). Situational Judgement Tests and Personality Measurement: Some Answers and More Questions. European Journal of Personality, 31(5), 463-464.

[30] Kapucu N., and Ustun Y. (2017). Collaborative Crisis Management and Leadership in the Public Sector. International Journal of Public Administration, 41(7), 548-561. https://doi.org/10.1080/01900692.2017.1280819

[31] Mathews J. (2022). Crisis Leadership: The Cognitive-Affective Personality Traits Approach. IUP Journal of Soft Skills, 16 (4), 22-43.

[32] Robert B. and Lajtha C. A. (2003). New Approach to Crisis Management. Journal of Contingencies and Crisis Management, 10(4), 181-191.

[33] Guion R. M. (2011). Assessment, measurement, and prediction for personnel decisions (2 ed.). Routledge.

[34] GRISSOM, J. A. and CONDON, L. (2021). Leading Schools and Districts in Times of Crisis. Educational Researcher, 50(5), 315-324. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189x211023112

[35] Samir Z. (2020). The Role of Decision‐maker in Crisis Management: A qualitative Study Using Grounded Theory (COVID‐19 Pandemic Crisis as A Model). Journal of Public Affairs, 20(4), 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1002/pa.2186

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.