This session will analyze the place of trans women in competitive sports, both contemporarily and historically. Through tracing concurrent historical events and major advances for women’s sports in general, I will position the inclusion of trans women in sport as a quantitative indicator of democratic principles beyond sport. Using an Albertan Social Studies 30 framing of liberalism and illiberalism, I argue that fulsome inclusion of all women in sport is globally intrinsically linked with reduced inequity, citizen engagement, and freedom of the press. This argument will also be situated within the current Albertan context of trans exclusion and feature results from a province-wide study of the implementation of Bill 29. (Div 1, 2, 3, 4)
Gillian Robinson (she/her) was a French Immersion Junior High and High School classroom teacher for many years in the metro Edmonton area. Now, as an Assistant Professor at Campus Saint-Jean, she brings practical strategies for teacher education into her University courses and research... Read More →
Friday October 16, 2026 9:00am - 10:20am MDT Paskapoo 1
This interactive workshop introduces teachers to a new classroom resource built around the short documentary King’s Court, which explores masculinity, friendship, and identity through the lens of basketball. Participants will watch the 20-minute education cut of the film together, then experience excerpts from the King’s Court Playbook for Success—an interactive digital resource that uses basketball plays as metaphors for key socioemotional and life skills.
The Playbook invites students to reflect on identity, self-awareness, communication, healthy relationships, resilience, and what it means to “win” in life—on and off the court. Designed for students 12+, the resource blends sport, storytelling, and structured reflection to support meaningful classroom conversations that connect directly to social studies themes such as identity, citizenship, belonging, and personal growth.
Teachers will leave with practical strategies for using documentary film and interactive tools to support student voice, discussion, and goal-setting across social studies, health, and language classes.
Workshop Learning Outcomes
By the end of the session, participants will be able to:
Explore how documentary film can be used to teach identity, belonging, and resilience in social studies classrooms
Experience and evaluate the King’s Court Playbook for Success as a student-centered learning tool
Identify concrete ways to integrate socioemotional learning into social studies instruction
Adapt at least one activity from the Playbook for use in their own classroom context
Understand how sport and storytelling can support discussions about success, relationships, and self-awareness
Friday October 16, 2026 10:35am - 11:55am MDT Paskapoo 1
Across generations, Chinese Canadians have stepped onto the field — as Olympians, professional athletes, community organizers, and devoted fans filling arenas and rallying behind their teams. Yet many of these achievements have remained outside the national narrative. By bringing these stories back into play, the Chinese Canadian Museum reframes sports as a high-stakes field where recognition, citizenship, and belonging are fought for and claimed in their exhibition "Momentum: Power and Identity in Sports", on view in Vancouver Chinatown from June 10, 2026 until September 5, 2027. Presented alongside works by contemporary Asian artists, "Momentum" also treats sport as conceptual terrain and queries ideas of nationalism, political diplomacy, and participation in society. Through athlete stories and historical context, this session will explore the evolving identity and recognition of Chinese Canadians from the 1900s to present day through the lens of sports. (Div 2, 4)
Join us and explore how to leverage digital interactive maps to bring global issues to life in your classroom! Centered on A Sustainable World, an engaging online platform developed by Aga Khan Foundation Canada in partnership with Canadian Geographic, this session introduces an interactive map designed for students aged 12–18.
You will explore how the platform supports inquiry-based learning while deepening students’ understanding of world geography and key global challenges. Through themes such as climate change, health, education, and gender equality—aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)—the resource encourages students to think critically and act as informed global citizens.
The session will also highlight the platform’s multimedia and classroom resources, offering practical strategies for integrating global citizenship education into diverse classroom contexts. You will leave with ready-to-use ideas and tools to foster meaningful discussions, enhance student engagement, and connect curriculum to real-world issues.
Can't wait to share this exciting resource with you!
