Fostering Inclusion Through Games explores how play and physical education can serve as a universal language to promote belonging, cultural understanding, and equity in schools. Beginning at the classroom level, the presentation demonstrates how culturally responsive games can reflect students’ identities, empower them to share their cultures, and build inclusive learning environments. It then connects this work to community partnerships and data-informed practices, showing how local insights can inform school-wide approaches and, ultimately, support district-level planning, resources, and teaching and learning structures. Participants are encouraged to consider how small, intentional classroom practices can scale to create systemic, sustainable inclusion across schools and the district.
Global crisis’, rights and equity issues are entering, and sometimes disrupting, classrooms with increasing frequency, leaving both students and educators feeling overwhelmed and hopeless. In this session, the Be an Upstander program and other approaches to create environments where they can explore complex topics and equip students with tools to address injustice. Participants will also examine how classroom culture, courage to engage in complex conversations and project-based learning, can be used together to help students find hope and equip them with skills to take action.
