Christine Brabant

Christine Brabant has completed her doctoral degree in education at Sherbrooke University and a postdoctoral fellowship at the Université catholique de Louvain's Center for Philosophy of Law. Her thesis dealt with the collective learning processes at the root of reflexive governance. For her doctoral research, she completed a one-year training-study with three groups of parent-teachers willing to develop governance proposals for homeschooling. Her current research and intervention interests are focused on the regulation of homeschooling, the reflexive governance of education, the collective and institutional actors' democratic training and learning processes as well as alternative educational movements.

The Fonds québécois de la recherche sur la société et la culture, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and the Trudeau Foundation supported her research work. Her master's thesis, which offered a portrait of homeschooling families in Quebec, and her doctoral dissertation, earned two prestigious research awards: the ACFAS-Desjardins Excellence Award for Graduate Student Research and the Swiss Society for Research in Education Prize for Young Researchers. A Quebec research pioneer for this growing educational movement, she has published research articles, written encyclopedia entries, presented her work in scientific and professional conferences and been regularly asked to share her expertise with the Quebec and Belgian media.

Throughout her graduate studies, Christine Brabant has guided her own two children through their schooling at home. She also served as the coordinator of her local homeschooling group. With a bachelor's degree in dance from the University of Quebec at Montreal and a teaching licence in dance and music from the Quebec Ministry of Education, she pursued a first career on stage as a contemporary dancer and a second career in the schools, teaching dance and music. She also completed a Certificate in French language and literature at Sherbrooke University.

Experience as a Trudeau Scholar

My Trudeau Scholarship brought me generous and valuable financial support during my studies. It also gave me a rich training to complement my doctoral training. The many events held by the Foundation were incomparable opportunities to get outside of my area of specialty and expand my understanding of current social issues. Spending time with the other Trudeau community scholars, fellows and mentors - an exceptional group of talented and innovative people - provided a source of lively intellectual stimulation and an incredible motivation for social involvement. It gave me wonderful opportunities to share opinions and experiences. Moreover, the annual travel allowance that goes with the scholarship also helped me nurture professional relationships outside of Quebec and expand the scope of my research, thanks to the reimbursement of my research expenses. Altogether, the Trudeau Foundation gives its scholars more than just money - it offers them a real support and a professional development program that completely transforms the doctoral experience.