Formal, non-formal and informal education: Competency development of French speaking school principals in Canada

Abstract

To enhance the competencies of new school principals, we see the emergence of training programs proposed by universities, school districts, etc. The goal of our study is to identify which educational contexts (formal, non-formal and informal) (a) have helped the most, and (b) can best help new school principals to develop their leading competencies. A total of 101 educational agents were interviewed in this qualitative research project. Results show that the three educational contexts (formal, non-formal and informal) have contributed to develop new principals’ school leading competencies. Furthermore, the non-formal education context (i.e. workshops and support from the school district) appears to be the one that could best help them to further develop their competencies.