Presentation of the Chair

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Presentation of the Chair

The UNESCO Chair in Applied Research for Education in Prison was created in the wake of the Dakar Framework for Action (Senegal) – Education for All: Fulfilling Our Collective Commitments – adopted by representatives of 164 countries in 2000, affirming that education is a right for all people in all circumstances, making it an essential tool for social development.

In 2009, the Belem Framework for Action, adopted at the Sixth International Conference on Adult Education (CONFINTEA VI), recommended that adult education in prisons should be provided at all appropriate levels.

The following year, in 2010, the founders of the UNESCO Chair participated in the VIII World Assembly of the International Council for Adult Education (ICAE), in Malmö (Sweden). They proposed to include education in prisons among the objectives of the ICAE, a proposal adopted unanimously. In December of the same year, UNESCO officially recognized the UNESCO Chair in Applied Research for Education in Prison.

In 2011, the Chair was officially launched at Cégep Marie-Victorin, becoming the only one in the world dedicated to education in prisons and the first UNESCO Chair to be established in a Canadian college. The Chair is active and the team organizes numerous research and dissemination events, including the first Canadian symposium entirely dedicated to education in prison, which took place in October 2024.

Given the international commitment to the Belem Framework for Action and UNESCO's central role in its implementation, the Chair collaborates with UNESCO to promote and strengthen adult education in prisons.

Aimed at a wide audience of researchers, learners, decision-makers, teachers, students, practitioners and community actors, the Chair acts as a space for research, reflection and mobilization around the right to education for all in a prison context.

The Chair is supported in these reflections and these approaches by a steering committee and a scientific committee.

Team

Frédérick Armstrong

Principal Investigator and Chairholder

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Areas of Expertise

Political Philosophy
Vulnerability
Individual Rights
Education in prison
Research Ethics

Professional Profile

Frédérick Armstrong, Ph.D. in Philosophy, has been at the UNESCO Chair in Applied Research for Education in Prison since 2019 and he is the chairholder since 2025. He has long been interested in the rights of marginalized and vulnerable individuals and is currently working to document and amplify the voices of people learning in prison through various qualitative research projects. He strives to contribute to the field of education in prison more broadly by actively participating in various communities of practice, notably on the advisory committee of the Société de criminologie du Québec and within the Association pour la recherche au collégial.

Current Research Projects

Continuity of Education and Support for First Peoples in Prison and Post-Prison Settings. Project funded by the College and Community Social Innovation Fund grants . With Marc-André Lacelle (Cégep Marie-Victorin), Anne-Andrée Denault (Cégep de Trois-Rivières), and Mylène Jaccoud (University of Montreal)

The Meaning and Impact of Education in Prison: The Perspective of Incarcerated Learners in Provincial Detention Facilities in Quebec. Project funded by the College and Community Social Innovation Fund grants. With Lyne Bisson (Cégep Marie-Victorin)

Recent Publications

Armstrong, F. (À paraître), “Learning to Get Out of the Wing - The Motivations of Learners Incarcerated in Québec Provincial Prisons”, Journal of Prison Education Research
Armstrong, F. (2022). Chapitre 2. De l’importance de reconnaître et d’assumer les fonctions politiques propres aux différentes conceptions de la vulnérabilité. Dans La justice, la vulnérabilité et le politique autrement (pp.47-68. Presses de l’Université Laval. https://shs.cairn.info/article...
Armstrong, F., Dumonceaud, L., & Auger, N. (2022). Recherches impliquées–La vulnérabilité en question à l’aune de la formation numérique. LHUMAINE, 1. https://shs.hal.science/halshs...
Armstrong, F. (2017). An extrinsic dispositional account of vulnerability. Les ateliers de l’éthique, 12(2), 180204.

Affiliation outside CEGEP

Member of the Advisory Committee of the Société de criminologie du Québec

Marc-André Lacelle

UNESCO Chair in Applied Research for Education in Prison and Department of Social Sciences

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Areas of Expertise

Urban sociology and visual sociology
Pragmatism in the social sciences
Qualitative research methodology in community colleges
Qualitative research in correctional settings
Experiential pedagogy / Pédagogie expérientielle

Professional Profile

Marc-André Lacelle holds a Bachelor of Arts with a major in philosophy and a Master’s degree in urban sociology. He participated in the collaborative Culture of Cities project, developing expertise in qualitative methodologies (visual content analysis and in-situ observation) related to the inductive approach, and has contributed to textbooks on research methodology for college level courses. His interest in social reintegration pathways within the prison system stemmed from his experience teaching sociology in prison. Since 2021, he has served as a development and research advisor at the UNESCO Chair in Applied Research for Prison Education and as a researcher. He was appointed as co-chairholder in 2025.

Current Research Projects

• Continuity of Education and Support for First Peoples in Prison and Post-Prison Settings is an action research project with Indigenous and institutional partners aimed at ensuring the cultural safety of community reintegration services within the prison continuum. It is funded by the College and Community Social Innovation Fund grants for 2024–2027. Co-researcher with Frédérick Armstrong (Cégep Marie-Victorin), Anne-Andrée Denault (Cégep de Trois-Rivières), and Mylène Jaccoud (Université de Montréal).

• Education in Transition is an exploratory sociology project aimed at documenting non-formal education practices in transition houses in Montreal North from the perspective of community services. Co-researcher with Fanny Theurillat-Cloutier (Cégep Marie-Victorin).

Recent Publications

Blanc, V., M.-A. Lacelle, and G. Perreault (2023). Introduction to Qualitative Research in the Humanities, Montreal: Chenelière Éducation, 2023, 225 pp. https://www.cheneliere.ca/fr/i...

Blanc, V., M.-A. Lacelle, G. Perreault, C. Corno, and É. Roy (2015). IPMSH. A Multidisciplinary Approach to Research in the Humanities. 2nd ed., Montreal, Chenelière Éducation, 224 p. https://www.cheneliere.ca/fr/i...

Blanc, V., M.-A. Lacelle, G. Perreault, C. Corno, and É. Roy (2010). IPMSH. A Multidisciplinary Approach to Research in the Humanities. Montreal, Chenelière Éducation, 224 p.

Camille Trembley

Pedagogical Advisor, Development Strategy and Communication

With a background in philosophy and a master’s degree in film studies from the Université de Montréal (UdeM), Camille Trembley initially worked in the fields of documentary filmmaking and cultural mediation. There, she developed various projects, including organizing film screenings and writing workshops in correctional facilities.

Driven by a strong interest in social justice and community reintegration issues, she joined the Chair in 2021, where she contributes to the development of research projects and outreach activities. She is currently pursuing a bachelor’s degree in psychology at the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM).

General information
educare@cegepmv.ca

Steering Committee

Louis Gendron, Director General, Cégep Marie-Victorin — Chair of the Committee
Luc Barsalou, Retired Teacher, Cégep Marie-Victorin
Johanne Beausoleil, Director General, Sûreté du Québec
Line Fortin, Associate Deputy Minister, Ministère de la Sécurité publique du Québec
Élizabeth Bolduc, Program Advisor Indigenous Issues Program Directorate, Sub-Ministry of Correctional Services, Ministère de la Sécurité publique
Pierre Doray, Professor Emeritus, Department of Sociology, Université du Québec à Montréal
Florian Manuch, Research Advisor, Assistant Directorate General of Modernization and Correctional Performance, Programs Directorate, Ministère de la Sécurité publique du Québec
Amélie Marcheterre, Director General, Programs, Consulting and Administration, Ministère de la Sécurité publique
Anne-Ophélie Robillard, Director General, Responsible for Access to Documents and the Protection of Personal Information, Association des services de réhabilitation sociale du Québec (ASRSQ)
Annie Lafontaine, Regional Director, Evaluation and Intervention, Regional
Marion Vacheret, Professor, Department of Criminology, Université de Montréal

Scientific Committee

Arve Asbjørnsen, Professor, Bergen University (Norway), Sector: Psychology
Eustache Banza, Professor, University of Kinshasa (Democratic Republic of Congo), Sector: Education
Azzeddine Belmahi, Coordinator, Mohammed VI Foundation (Morocco) – Sector: Adult Education
Geraldine Cleere, Lecturer, Waterford Institute of Technology (WIT) (Ireland), Sector: Criminology
Mylène Duchemin, Acting Director, Reintegration Programs Division, Correctional Service Canada (Canada), Sector: Practice setting
Mariangela Graciano, General Coordinator for Youth and Adult Education, Directorate of Literacy Policies and Youth and Adult Education, Ministry of Education (Brazil)
Sandra Lehalle, Associate Professor, University of Ottawa (Canada), Sector: Criminology
Oumar Ndongo, Professor, Cheikh Ante Diop University (Senegal), Sector: Education
Tammy Ryan, Research Branch Manager, Research & Knowledge Mobilization Unit, Correctional Service Canada (Canada), Sector: Practitioner
Hugo Rangel Torrijo, Professor, Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM) (Canada), Sector: Political Science