Sessions at a Glance

UNLOCKED 2025 PROGRAM

History in Troubled Times
Moderator: Kristina R. Llewellyn (McMaster University), Penney Clark (University of British Columbia) & Sara Karn (McMaster University)
Panelists: History in Troubled Times Team

How can history education equip young people with the knowledge, skills, and competencies they require to address the most pressing issues of our time? And what challenges arise while navigating contentious, difficult, and emotional topics in the history classroom? This interactive, discussion-based session explores innovative pedagogical approaches to engaging with contemporary challenges and controversies, from climate crisis and decolonization to gender equity/inequity and commemoration.

Sponsored by:

Bringing STEM to History: Innovative Strategies for 21st century classrooms
Christina Iorio (YCDSB)
Explore creative strategies for integrating STEM concepts and the Design Thinking Model into your history classroom, by fostering cross-disciplinary learning and historical thinking. This session will highlight innovative pedagogical approaches, including strategies and technology tools which will engage students in historical inquiry. Attendees will walk away with practical, hands-on strategies to integrate STEM into their classroom.

Délimitation des circonscriptions électorales: perspectives d’équité et de justice (FR)
Camille Blanchard-Seguin (Elections Canada)
Qu’est-ce qui rend la délimitation des circonscriptions électorales juste? Voilà la question d’enquête posée dans la ressource pédagogique Cartographie des circonscriptions électorales. Dans cet atelier, les membres du personnel se mettront à la place de leurs élèves pour tracer des limites de circonscriptions justes dans un pays imaginaire. Ensemble, ils tiendront compte de différentes perspectives et concepts de justice, d’équité et d’égalité. Cet atelier présentera un modèle pratique de l’apprentissage par l’enquête, tout en montrant comment utiliser les matériaux gratuits d’Élections Canada dans des classes de citoyenneté, politique, droit, géographie, ainsi que dans des cours de sciences sociales comme Équité, diversité et justice sociale.

Sponsored by:

Teaching Black Canadian History: Affirming Identity and Empowering Student Voice
Doreen Bonsu (HCDSB)
In this session teachers will explore strategies for integrating Black Canadian history into the curriculum in ways that are meaningful, engaging, and responsive to student needs. Grounded in an anti-oppressive and decolonial approach, this workshop will equip educators with the tools to foster critical consciousness, challenge dominant narratives, and celebrate Black excellence in their classrooms. Teachers will leave with a number of resources to help support their learning. Key topics include Early Black Canadian History, Cultural Contributions and Heritage, Community Resilience and Empowerment.

Building Thinking Classrooms in Social Sciences & Humanities
Michael Woodrow (YCDSB)
Looking to try a new teaching strategy? This interactive workshop will introduce Canadian and World Studies teachers to Peter Liljedahl’s Building Thinking Classrooms approach. Explore practical, student-centered methods that promote inquiry, problem-solving, and engagement across courses in our discipline. Through hands-on activities, participants will experience these strategies firsthand—just as students would. Walk away with concrete ideas to create dynamic learning environments that foster deeper thinking and meaningful participation. Whether you’re new to this approach or looking to refine your practice, this session will challenge and inspire your teaching.

Trouver refuge au Canada durant l’Holocauste (FR)
Anne Marguet (Musée de l’Holocauste Montreal)
Comment enseigner l’Holocauste en s’appuyant sur l’empathie historique?
Au cours de cet atelier, les participant·es mèneront une enquête historique pour découvrir quelles répercussions les mesures antijuives nazies ont eues sur la vie d’une famille juive. Ils chercheront aussi à comprendre comment la famille a réussi à se réfugier au Canada.
Les participant·es analyseront des sources primaires ayant appartenu à la famille Cahn, puis ils remettront ces sources primaires dans leur contexte pour mieux comprendre l’Holocauste et le rôle du Canada face aux persécutions nazies.
À la fin de l’atelier, les participantes auront à disposition des ressources variées à utiliser en classe.

Sponsored by:

From AI users to AI Thinkers: Helping Students Navigate AI’s power, risk and ethics
Heidi Siwak (I-think)
Are you struggling with student use of AI and unsure what to do about it? Are you wanting to integrate AI into your practice as an educator, but not sure where to begin? Are you concerned about how AI is changing education but not sure how to respond? This session, appropriate for teachers of all grades, will equip educators with essential knowledge to help students navigate the complexities of AI through the lens of critical thinking. Join Heidi as she shares insights and learning from I-Think’s Artificial Intelligence Challenge Kit, a hands-on and curriculum-connected resource for grades 6-12; that empowers students to think critically about AI—its possibilities, risks, and ethical implications. You’ll explore key concepts every student (and teacher) should know, from how AI actually works to bias, mis- and dis-information, common misconceptions, and AI’s real-world impact.

Presenters

Keynote Presenters

Andrew Stobo Sniderman & Douglas Sanderson (Amo Binashii)

Andrew Stobo Sniderman is a writer, lawyer, and Rhodes Scholar from Montreal. He has written for the New York Times, the Globe and Mail, and Maclean’s. He has also argued before the Supreme Court of Canada, served as the human rights policy advisor to the Canadian minister of foreign affairs, and worked for a judge of South Africa’s Constitutional Court.

Douglas Sanderson (Amo Binashii) is the Prichard Wilson Chair in Law and Public Policy at the University of Toronto Faculty of Law and has served as a senior policy advisor to Ontario’s attorney general and minister of Indigenous affairs. He is Swampy Cree, Beaver clan, of the Opaskwayak Cree Nation.

Panel #1 Discussion Presenters

Jan Haskings – Past President of OHASSTA

Bio to come

Allison Parsons – DPCDSB

Allison Parsons is a dedicated educator, advocate, activist, and scholar with over 20 years of experience teaching English, Social Sciences, while serving as a Special Education Resource Teacher and student support educator at the secondary level with the Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board. She is deeply committed to social justice and currently serves as the Vice President of Equity for the Dufferin-Peel Secondary Unit. In this role, she advocates for Indigenous, Black and equity-deserving educators and students at both the local and provincial levels.

Allison is most proud of her two daughters, ages 29 and 12, and her work in developing and delivering Black Voices in Literature and Equity and Social Justice courses, where she amplifies historically marginalized narratives and fosters critical conversations in the classroom. She is also a Master’s student at OISE in the Social Justice in Education program, further deepening her commitment to anti-racism, anti-oppression and educational equity.

Beyond the classroom, Allison is an AQ writer and instructor and has been an active member of the Diversity Advisory Board for OECTA, representing Black teachers in Catholic education. Her work is rooted in abolitionist teaching, inspired by scholars like Bettina Love, bell hooks, and James Baldwin. She is passionate about reimagining education within the Catholic system that value diversity, ensure equitable outcomes and strike for true inclusion for all students and their families.

Kim Buitenhuis, PhD – Queen’s University

Kim Buitenhuis is a settler scholar living and working in Mississauga and unceded Algonquin
territory north of Kingston, Ontario. Her work focuses on the role of education in reducing settler
ignorance of Canada’s colonial past and present and the realities of Indigenous peoples in
Canada. She recently completed research on how and why the latest Ontario history, social
studies and geography curricula continue to reinforce ignorance in critical ways and interviewed
Ontario teachers on their willingness and ability to disrupt this ignorance.

Panel #2 Discussion Presenters

Kristina R. Llewellyn

Kristina R. Llewellyn is a Professor of History at the Wilson College of Leadership and Civic Engagement at McMaster University. She is a long-standing member of the Ontario College of Teachers. Kristina researches and teaches in the areas of history, civics, and education, with a focus on oral history for the redress of historical harms through education. Her most recent co-edited book is Women, Gender, and History Education: Perspectives from Ontario and Quebec (Palgrave, 2024). Kristina is the Director of Digital Oral Histories for Reconciliation: The Nova Scotia Home for Colored Children and a co-lead of the Curriculum and Resources Cluster for Thinking Historically for Canada’s Future.

Penney Clark (University of British Columbia)

Penney Clark is a professor of history and social studies education in the Department of Curriculum and Pedagogy, UBC. In an earlier life she was an elementary teacher (Burnaby) and a social studies curriculum consultant (Edmonton). Penney’s co-authored Canada Revisited textbooks were authorized for grades 7 and 8 in Ontario. She is co-editor (with Roland Case) of the anthologies Learning to Inquire in History, Geography, and Social Studies: An Anthology for Secondary Teachers and Learning to Inquire in Social Studies: An Anthology for Elementary Teachers, which are used widely in Canadian teacher education programs. She is co-author (with Alan Sears) of The Arts and the Teaching of History: Historical F(r)ictions.

Sara Kam (McMaster University)

Sara Karn is a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of History at McMaster University. Her research focuses on empathy, care, and emotion in history education, and she also conducts research on K-12 curriculum and resources for the Thinking Historically for Canada’s Future project. Sara is a certified K-12 teacher in Ontario and has taught social studies education and environmental/climate change education for pre- and in-service teachers at Wilfrid Laurier and Lakehead Universities. She led experiential learning programs in Europe for the Vimy Foundation and was a co-facilitator of the 2022-23 Virtual Historical Thinking Institute offered by Canada’s History.

Carousel Presenters

Christina Iorio (YCDSB)

Bringing STEM to History: Innovative Strategies for 21st century classrooms

Christina Iorio has been teaching for 21 years with the York Catholic District School Board and is currently the Department Head of Canadian & World Studies and Social Sciences at St. Augustine Catholic High School in Markham where she teaches as part of their STREAM-focused program. In this STREAM-focused program, students utilize the Design Thinking Process and the principles of STEM education to explore historical themes and apply historical thinking skills. Recently, Christina has expanded these innovative approaches to other areas, including Civics, fostering cross-disciplinary learning and critical thinking for students. She is active on Instagram (@therealmsiorio) where she shares her progressive approaches to teaching Canadian & World Studies and Social Science subjects.

Camille Blanchard-Seguin (Elections Canada)

Délimitation des circonscriptions électorales: perspectives d’équité et de justice

Camille Blanchard-Séguin est une agente de rayonnement dans l’équipe d’éducation civique d’Élections Canada. Elle détient une maitrise en éducation de l’Institut d’études pédagogiques de l’Ontario avec une spécialisation en Éducation, francophonies et diversité. Elle a plus de 10 ans d’expérience dans des programmes d’éducation publique et anime fréquemment des séances de perfectionnement professionnel.

Doreen Bonsu (HCDSB)

Teaching Black Canadian History: Affirming Identity and Empowering Student Voice

Doreen Bonsu is a proud Ghanaian-Canadian educator, experienced high school teacher, course writer, and workshop facilitator. She teaches high school students in Milton, Ontario, and recently completed her Master of Education in Social Justice Education at OISE, specializing in Educational Policy.

Now in her tenth year of teaching, Doreen is passionate about incorporating culturally responsive and reflective pedagogy into her lessons, with a strong focus on centering Black narratives. She piloted an African Canadian History course in her school board, highlighting the histories and contributions of people of African descent to the Canadian landscape.

Recognized for her dedication to education, Doreen has received numerous awards and was recently selected as one of four international educators to participate in the Ghana International Schools Visiting International Educator Program.

Michael Woodrow (YCDSB)

Building Thinking Classrooms in Social Sciences & Humanities

With 20 years of teaching experience, Michael is passionate about learning, creativity, and pushing the boundaries of classroom instruction. For the past decade, he has served as the department head of Canadian and World Studies and Social Sciences and Humanities at Sacred Heart CHS in Newmarket, leading innovative approaches to teaching. Having taught overseas in an international setting—and with plans to do so again in September of 2026—Michael values diverse perspectives in education. Believing that teaching should be engaging, dynamic, and fun, he seeks new methods to challenge both students and themselves. Whether through problem-solving activities, interactive discussions, or fresh instructional strategies, he is committed to keeping learning exciting and meaningful

Anne Marguet (Musee de l’Holocauste Montreal)

Trouver refuge au Canada durant l’Holocauste

Anne Marguet possède une maîtrise en histoire, avec une spécialisation en histoire des migrations au 20è siècle. Professeure d’histoire au Secondaire et au Cégep, d’abord en France puis au Québec, elle occupe le poste de coordonnatrice Éducation au Musée de l’Holocauste Montréal depuis 2019. À ce titre, elle participe à la conception d’activités pédagogiques variées, à la formation des guides et des médiateur·trice·s du Musée, ainsi qu’à la formation des enseignantes.

Heidi Siwak (I-think)

From AI users to AI Thinkers: Helping Students Navigate AI’s power, risk and ethics

Heidi is an experienced Ontario educator and now Teacher Coach at I-Think, an education charity originating at the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto, that is focused on helping children and youth become optimistic and confident problem solvers. She leads I-Think’s work in Artificial Intelligence and is the architect of I-Think’s Artificial Intelligence Challenge Kit for gr 6-12 students where students engage in deep critical thinking about AI and use an empathy-based problem-solving process to imagine how AI might enhance the lives and possibilities of all students. She believes that student and teacher voices need to be front and center as AI tools are developed for education. She shares regularly what I-Think is learning about what students want from AI (and the people who make it) from the over 3000 students who have participated to date in the AI Challenge. Heidi is passionately committed to helping students, teachers, and school leaders develop essential skills to explore the main issues facing society and education systems in the development and application of AI. She is committed to responsible and ethical AI in education and exercising leadership skills to empower students and educators to navigate the multidisciplinary and practical reality of responsible AI and human rights.

Exhibitors

Photos

Presenter Resources

Session	Resource Links
Bringing STEM to History: Innovative Strategies for 21st century classrooms Christina Iorio (YCDSB) Explore creative strategies for integrating STEM concepts and the Design Thinking Model into your history classroom, by fostering cross-disciplinary learning and historical thinking. This session will highlight innovative pedagogical approaches, including strategies and technology tools which will engage students in historical inquiry. Attendees will walk away with practical, hands-on strategies to integrate STEM into their classroom.	Slideshow
Délimitation des circonscriptions électorales: perspectives d’équité et de justice (FR) Camille Blanchard-Seguin (Elections Canada) Qu’est-ce qui rend la délimitation des circonscriptions électorales juste? Voilà la question d’enquête posée dans la ressource pédagogique Cartographie des circonscriptions électorales. Dans cet atelier, les membres du personnel se mettront à la place de leurs élèves pour tracer des limites de circonscriptions justes dans un pays imaginaire. Ensemble, ils tiendront compte de différentes perspectives et concepts de justice, d’équité et d’égalité. Cet atelier présentera un modèle pratique de l’apprentissage par l’enquête, tout en montrant comment utiliser les matériaux gratuits d’Élections Canada dans des classes de citoyenneté, politique, droit, géographie, ainsi que dans des cours de sciences sociales comme Équité, diversité et justice sociale.
Teaching Black Canadian History: Affirming Identity and Empowering Student Voice Doreen Bonsu (HCDSB) In this session teachers will explore strategies for integrating Black Canadian history into the curriculum in ways that are meaningful, engaging, and responsive to student needs. Grounded in an anti-oppressive and decolonial approach, this workshop will equip educators with the tools to foster critical consciousness, challenge dominant narratives, and celebrate Black excellence in their classrooms. Teachers will leave with a number of resources to help support their learning. Key topics include Early Black Canadian History, Cultural Contributions and Heritage, Community Resilience and Empowerment.
Building Thinking Classrooms in Social Sciences & Humanities Michael Woodrow (YCDSB) Looking to try a new teaching strategy? This interactive workshop will introduce Canadian and World Studies teachers to Peter Liljedahl’s Building Thinking Classrooms approach. Explore practical, student-centered methods that promote inquiry, problem-solving, and engagement across courses in our discipline. Through hands-on activities, participants will experience these strategies firsthand—just as students would. Walk away with concrete ideas to create dynamic learning environments that foster deeper thinking and meaningful participation. Whether you’re new to this approach or looking to refine your practice, this session will challenge and inspire your teaching. Resources
Trouver refuge au Canada durant l’Holocauste (FR) Anne Marguet (Musée de l’Holocauste Montreal) Comment enseigner l’Holocauste en s’appuyant sur l’empathie historique? Au cours de cet atelier, les participant·es mèneront une enquête historique pour découvrir quelles répercussions les mesures antijuives nazies ont eues sur la vie d’une famille juive. Ils chercheront aussi à comprendre comment la famille a réussi à se réfugier au Canada. Les participant·es analyseront des sources primaires ayant appartenu à la famille Cahn, puis ils remettront ces sources primaires dans leur contexte pour mieux comprendre l’Holocauste et le rôle du Canada face aux persécutions nazies. À la fin de l’atelier, les participantes auront à disposition des ressources variées à utiliser en classe.
From AI users to AI Thinkers: Helping Students Navigate AI’s power, risk and ethics Heidi Siwak (I-think) Are you struggling with student use of AI and unsure what to do about it? Are you wanting to integrate AI into your practice as an educator, but not sure where to begin? Are you concerned about how AI is changing education but not sure how to respond? This session, appropriate for teachers of all grades, will equip educators with essential knowledge to help students navigate the complexities of AI through the lens of critical thinking. Join Heidi as she shares insights and learning from I-Think’s Artificial Intelligence Challenge Kit, a hands-on and curriculum-connected resource for grades 6-12; that empowers students to think critically about AI—its possibilities, risks, and ethical implications. You’ll explore key concepts every student (and teacher) should know, from how AI actually works to bias, mis- and dis-information, common misconceptions, and AI’s real-world impact.