Dr. Alec Couros
Dr. Alec Couros, a Professor of Educational Technology and Media,
currently serves as the Director of the Centre for Teaching and
Learning at the University of Regina. Internationally acclaimed for
his groundbreaking work in open education, networked learning, digital
citizenship, artificial intelligence, and critical media literacy, Dr.
Couros has inspired audiences worldwide through his prolific workshops
and presentations
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SESSION: Generative AI and the Changing Landscape of Education
Generative AI is set to redefine education, creating shifts in how
students learn, how teachers teach, and how schools operate. This
session will introduce trustees and administrators to the broader
impact of AI on education, highlighting key changes such as the
evolution of curricula, new models of learning, and the implications
for student preparation in an AI-driven society. Attendees will gain a
clear understanding of AI’s potential and how to guide their schools
through this transformative time.
Dr. Debbie Pushor
Debbie Pushor, PhD, was born in Grande Prairie and raised on a farm in Sturgeon Heights, Alberta. She attended, and graduated from, Ridgevalley School which was, at that time, part of the East Smoky School Division. Debbie then obtained her degrees from the University of Alberta.
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Currently, Debbie is a mother of three adult sons, Cohen, Quinn, and Teague; a grandmother of one; and a former public school teacher, consultant, principal and central services administrator. Becoming a mother to school-aged children caused Debbie to return to graduate school. She completed her PhD at the University of Alberta, researching and writing a doctoral dissertation entitled, A Storied Photo Album of Parents’ Positioning and the Landscape of Schools. She is currently Professor Emerita at the University of Saskatchewan, in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.
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In her 28 year program of research, Debbie has engaged in narrative inquiries into parent engagement and leadership, a curriculum of parents, parent knowledge, and systematic parent engagement. In her undergraduate and graduate teaching, Debbie’s life work has been to make central an often absent or underrepresented conversation about the place and voice of parents and families in their children’s schooling.
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SESSION: Transformational Family and Community Engagement: A Means to Equitable Outcomes
For decades, educators have worked to enhance equitable outcomes for students. Typically, these approaches, programs, and/or initiatives have been “schoolcentric” (Lawson, 2003), focused on things that happen within the walls of the school such as curricular changes, innovative instructional strategies, or authentic forms of assessment. Yet, as Dr. Steven Constantino (2015) stated, “If we as educators could successfully teach all children by ourselves, then it seems to me we would have already done so.” The fact is that we haven’t done so. It is time to turn our attention outward - to recognizing that engaging families and communities in the educational life of their children and youth is essential to attaining the outcomes we desire. In this interactive session, Debbie will explore with us what authentic and meaningful engagement looks like, practical ways to develop it, opportunities we have to engage families and communities, and approaches to family and community engagement that are “familycentric” (Pushor, 2015) and transformative.
Dr. Pieter de Vos
Over past 18 years, I have facilitated over 450 projects with public sector organizations and non-profits of varying sizes and complexities across the province and abroad. My projects have ranged from leading strategic planning and change management sessions with executive teams throughout the provincial government; to supporting the Mayor’s Taskforce to Eliminate Poverty in Edmonton; to facilitating action labs to prototype and test social policies; to working with a multi-stakeholder team to redesign the contracting system for Human Services; to leading large-scale public participation processes on topics such as patient engagement, the opioid epidemic, suicide prevention, inclusion for LGBTQ+ communities, and affordable housing and homelessness.
Dr. Joel Westheimer
Joel Westheimer is Professor and University Research Chair in Democracy and Education at the University of Ottawa. He is also an education columnist for CBC Radio. An elected member of the National Academy of Education and a Fellow of the American Educational Research Association, Westheimer is an expert in civic education and the role of schools in democratic societies. His most recent book (2024) is What kind of citizen? Educating our children for the common good, second edition. He has delivered more than 350 keynote speeches, nationally and internationally and is a regular contributor to newspapers and magazines including The Washington Post, The Globe and Mail, The National Post, and the Toronto Star. Find out more at joelwestheimer.org.
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SESSION: Education that Matters for the Students We Teach
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If schools were for nothing more than to transmit facts and formulas to the next generation, then teachers’ and school leaders’ work would be relatively easy. But schools in democratic and diverse societies should be places where students learn about multiple perspectives, critical thinking, courage, and civic engagement. Schools can be all that, and more. Public schools in Canada are not just schools for the public but places where we learn what it means to be a public. What does an ideal school look like in your mind? What lessons are being conveyed? How are children and teachers interacting? In what ways do issues of equity and diversity affect school practices? What vision of the “good” society are students asked to imagine? In this presentation, I will explore with participants what teachers, school leaders, parents, students and school reformers can do to develop and preserve meaningful education for a democratic society in an era of polarization, diminishing trust, and increasing challenges.