Podium for Positive Change

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)

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

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!

Div 3, 4

From coast to coast to coast, people in Canada are observing a decline in the health of our democracy. Examples like increasing use of the Notwithstanding Clause to circumvent Charter rights and avoid the scrutiny of the courts, threats to judicial independence, and enacting legislation that permits governments to bypass other legal protections point to what many call "democratic backsliding" - governments that are less transparent, less accountable and accessible to the people they serve.

This session examines this trend drawing on examples from Québec, Ontario, Saskatchewan, and Alberta, as well as the potential to fundamentally alter the criminal justice system in Canada at the federal level,  and underscores the role of educators in pushing back against authoritarian governance by using the classroom as a space to foster democratic resilience.

Div 1-4

How do we move students from being passive observers of injustice to active participants in democracy? This fast-paced, dual-resource workshop provides educators with a complete blueprint for civic engagement, connecting Alberta’s history of activism to the practical tools of modern policy change.

Part 1: The Inspiration (35 Minutes) – Edmonton as a Human Rights City

We begin by exploring the "Living Legacy of Activism." Using a resource developed with the City of Edmonton Archives, we introduce the Expose–Oppose–Propose framework. Educators will explore video interviews and lesson plans featuring local changemakers like Michael Phair and Carola Cunningham. This segment focuses on building empathy and critical thinking, helping students see activism as a long-standing tradition in their own backyard.

Part 2: The Action (35 Minutes) – Advocacy 101 & Policy Engagement

Building on that inspiration, we transition to Ignite Change, a new three-module Google Classroom course. We move beyond theory to give students real-world tools to influence the laws that affect them. Using Canadian case studies (such as the advocacy following the cases of Amanda Todd and Rehtaeh Parsons), we demonstrate how "lived experience is evidence."

What Educators Will Gain:

The Advocacy & Policy Toolkit: Practical templates for writing to MPs, submitting testimony to Committees, and navigating the 7 stages of a Bill.

Ready-to-Use Curriculum: Access to both the "Activism Project" and the "Youth Engagement in Policy" LMS modules.
Educators will be guided through a high-impact curriculum that uses landmark Canadian case studies—such as the advocacy following the cases of Amanda Todd and Rehtaeh Parsons—to demonstrate how youth mobilization can force systemic legal change.

Participants will walk away with a ready-made Advocacy & Policy Toolkit, including:  Advocacy vs. Lobbying 101: Clear definitions and ethical boundaries. The 7 Legislative Stages: Identifying key entry points, such as the Committee Stage, where "lived experience is evidence". Practical Templates: Guides for writing effective letters to Members of Parliament (MPs), submitting written testimony, and requesting formal meetings.This session is ideal for Social Studies, Civics, and Leadership teachers looking to provide students with a "youth-led blueprint" for modern citizenship.
Div 3, 4