Christine Brabant

Christine Brabant, PhD (Education), is a Full Professor in the Department of Administration and Foundations of Education in the Faculty of Education at the Université de Montréal. Her research lies at the crossroads of governance ethics and change management in education. She is interested in the evolution of the education system in response to new social demands, and in the democratic participation of those affected by this renewal. As such, her research focuses on vulnerable, marginal or innovative groups, their educational practices and their interactions with the institution, in particular family-based learning (‘home schooling’), alternative schools, distance learning, and the education of young aboriginals and Hasidic communities (haredim).

In 2021, her article ‘Éduquer sans l'école : qui ? pourquoi ? comment ? Résultats d'enquêtes en territoires francophones’, the result of her comparative research between Quebec, France, French-speaking Belgium and French-speaking Switzerland, was awarded the Prix Publication en français Louise-Dandurand by the Fonds québécois pour la recherche sur la société et la culture. Between 2016 and 2019, she worked closely with the Ministère de l'Éducation du Québec (MEQ) and the Direction des affaires juridiques as a consultant-researcher on the revision of the Education Act, with regard to home schooling. She has also been asked by UNESCO, the Swiss government and Quebec's Commission des droits de la personne et de la jeunesse to provide scientific advice on this subject. She is co-chair of the Table de concertation nationale en matière d'enseignement à la maison du Québec, co-founder and director of the International Center for Home Education Research, a member of the Observatoire québécois de la démocratie, an associate researcher at the Centre de philosophie du droit of the Université catholique de Louvain (UCL) and an associate researcher at the Centre de transfert pour la réussite éducative du Québec. Currently in the process of obtaining certification as a Kestenberg Movement Profile analyst, she has been working since 2021 with Nicole Harbonnier's team (Université du Québec à Montréal) on her research into dance teaching.

A graduate of the École de danse contemporaine de Montréal, Christine Brabant holds a bachelor's degree in dance from the Université du Québec à Montréal and a teaching certificate in dance and music from the MEQ. She began her career on the contemporary dance stage, before moving on to teaching dance and music in schools. She also obtained a certificate in French literature and language from the Université de Sherbrooke (UdeS). She completed a master's and doctorate in education at UdeS, followed by a postdoctoral placement at UCL's Centre de philosophie du droit. Throughout her postgraduate studies, she accompanied her two children in their family school learning and acted as coordinator of a family learning support group.