Empower your students to lead, create, and make a difference through the Being, Belonging, Becoming program.
In this interactive session, educators will explore classroom-ready resources designed to support social-emotional learning (Being), build understanding of children’s rights, government, advocacy, and issues impacting youth in Canada (Belonging), and guide students in developing meaningful social action projects focused on issues affecting their communities (Becoming).
Together, we will also tackle some of the questions educators face today such as how to facilitate respectful, constructive dialogue in an increasingly complex political climate, and how to effectively differentiate project learning to meet the needs of diverse learners.
You will leave this workshop with a unit plan and final project you can deliver in your social studies classrooms. (Div 3, 4)
This session will explore recreational wilderness spaces as paradoxical in that, on the one hand, they provide opportunities for forging meaningful connections with the natural world, while at the same time, they represent modern products designed for extraction and consumption that contribute to Indigenous erasure and undermine Indigenous sovereignty and wellness. Leaning into the concept of "wildernessing," participants will recognize how recreational wilderness spaces are represented, narrated and constructed into Canadian national mythologies and marketing, and will learn how applying historical and geographic thinking skills may help their students to grapple more thoughtfully with these contested, and often understudied spaces. (Div 3, 4)
Dr. Edmondson is an Assistant Professor of Curriculum Studies in the College of Education at the University of Saskatchewan. Her research and teaching are informed by her nearly 20-year long career as a practicing high school social studies teacher in Alberta, as well as her love... Read More →
Friday October 16, 2026 10:35am - 11:55am MDT Paskapoo 2
What happens when inclusion in sport becomes a legal issue? This session explores how Canadian law addresses discrimination in athletics, including cases related to gender identity, religious accommodation, and disability rights. Through mock case studies and classroom-ready scenarios, educators will guide students in applying legal principles to real-life sport contexts. Participants will receive adaptable case-study packages designed to foster critical thinking and respectful dialogue.
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.
This session walks teachers through the new K–6 Social Studies curriculum architecture, showing how outcomes, skills, and organizing ideas connect to planning and classroom instruction. Teachers will explore how these elements translate into sequenced learning experiences and examine the curriculum-aligned resources that have been developed to support confident, intentional teaching. Div 1, 2
The impact of sport reaches far beyond the scoreboard. When done well, participation in sport has the potential to cultivate leadership skills such as collaboration, resilience, ethical decision-making, and responsibility—competencies also necessary for the development of active, engaged citizens.
In this session, we will explore how leadership lessons can live in sport and classroom practices. Drawing connections to leadership as a recurring concept within Alberta’s social studies curriculum, participants will examine how experiences in sports help students develop the skills and dispositions needed to contribute positively to their communities.
The session will also spotlight the powerful leadership ripple created by female athletes who remain engaged in sport—highlighting how their influence extends beyond competition into mentorship, community leadership, and advocacy.
Participants will leave with practical ideas for making leadership visible in their classrooms, connecting learning to real-world examples from sport, and inspiring students to see themselves as capable leaders both inside and outside of school.
