Summer Institute

PBDE Summer Institute

Theme: People and Place

Welcome to the webpage for the 2026 Summer Institute. This year's theme is ‘People and Place’ and will feature a keynote lecture from University of Winnipeg professor Dr. Alex Wilson along with five fantastic courses that in different ways align with this theme.  

This summer, instructors will link their courses to connect with how K-12 educators can navigate the tensions of reckoning with strengthening literacy and numeracy with students developing competencies which recognize the historic and ongoing harms made by humans against each other and the natural world. 

Please note, some courses will have classes off-campus. Contact your instructor for more details on this.

Registration will go live in March 2026. Whether attending the University of Winnipeg Faculty of Education Summer institute for the first time or welcoming you back, we look forward to seeing you in July 2026!

Keynote Speaker

Dr. Alex Wilson, Professor, Faculty of Education, University of Winnipeg 

10:00-11:00am, Monday July 6th, 2026

Dr. Alex Wilson (Opaskwayak Cree Nation) will be joining the Faculty of Education at the University of Winnipeg as professor in summer 2026. Her teaching and research focuses on Indigenous education, land-based education, and Indigenous methodologies. She was formerly the lead for the Master of Indigenous Land-based Education program at the University of Saskatchewan.

Course Offerings 

EDUC-5001-001 ST: Research Assessment 1 (Assessment Design in the Age of A.I.)

Instructor: M. Holden
Dates and Times: July 6th to July 10th: MTWThF; 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. 
Location: TBD

This one-week intensive course will engage teachers in iterative cycles of assessment design (Friesen & Jacobsen, 2015; Holden et al., 2022), focused on creating and revising learning opportunities for teachers to use in their own classrooms. Drawing on design-based models (Brown & Edelson, 2003; Design Council, 2025), teachers will (a) deepen their understanding of the complexities of AI in education, (b) define the challenges and opportunities affecting their practice, (c) co-design assessment and learning opportunities, and (d) iterate on their designs with feedback from colleagues. Fundamentally, the goal of the course is to support teachers in making sound, ethical, useful decisions in a changing education landscape.

This course is offered in conjunction with the Summer Institute and may include off campus activities. This course counts as an elective in the School Counselling and General streams. 

EDUC-5001-002 ST: Child Health and Well-Being

Instructor: H. Krepski
Dates and Times: July 6th to July 10th: MTWThF; 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. 
Location: TBD

Considering different theories and frameworks for children’s well-being, students gain understanding of their role in providing healthy responsive and holistic environments. Students develop understandings of varying cultural, personal and family beliefs about children’s wellbeing. In service to children, professional reflection and self-assessment is encouraged from participants to support their continual growth, learning and improvement of professional practice as it pertains to maintaining a healthy community. This course explores Indigenous content, pedagogy and assessment processes in relation to children’s well-being across Turtle Island (Canada) as the faculty continues to grow within these understandings.

This course is offered in conjunction with the Summer Institute and may include off campus activities. This course counts as an elective in the General stream. 

EDUC-5001-003 ST: Critical Issues in Science Education

Instructor: L. Raisinghani
Dates and Times: July 6th to July 10th: MTWThF; 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. 
Location: TBD

This course invites students to engage in a cross-curricular, social and ecological-justice focused inquiry into science and broader education to inform planetary citizenship. By exploring the nature of science and scientific literacy as informed by the Manitoba Education’s Framework of Learning and curricular goals of new K-10 science curricula, the students will examine various critical issues in science education and analyze the interplay among people and places that may help them in tackling “wicked problems” in their teaching practice. Rooted in culturally sustaining pedagogies, the students will reflect on their own science identity, and identify curricular and pedagogical possibilities for inviting equity, diversity, inclusion, and decolonization in science to gain understandings of culturally responsive and Indigenous ways of knowing science. The students will participate in contextualized experiential learning experiences to build understanding of socio-scientific issues and value-creating global citizenship education that may promote global competencies, environmentally responsible behaviors, and cultivate responsible science citizenship in formal classrooms and informal community settings. 

This course is offered in conjunction with the Summer Institute and may include off campus activities. This course counts as an elective in the General stream. 

EDUC-5001-005 ST: Climate, Justice and Equity

Instructor: H. Eckton
Dates and Times: July 6th to July 10th: MTWThF; 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. 
Location: College Churchill High School  – 510 Hay Street

This course explores climate change education (CCE) through a climate justice and socio-environmental equity lens, by reconnecting to our ecological selves and Indigenous Ways of Knowing and Being. Drawing on key insights from CCE literature from diverse voices, best practices in participatory teaching and learning, we will focus on collaborative community action learning from K-12 and beyond. Through daily course readings, collaborations, discussions and experiential learning, we will aspire to move towards mino-pimatisiwin (the good life-for all), planetary regeneration and lasting peace.

This course is offered in conjunction with the Summer Institute. This course is reserved for students in the WSD Inquiry stream permission of department is required. This course counts as an elective in the General stream.

EDUC-5571-001

Instructor: L. Henderson
Dates and Times: July 6th to July 10th: MTWThF; 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. 
Location: College Churchill High School  – 510 Hay Street

Drawing upon diverse disciplinary lenses, including education, anthropology, environmental studies, and Indigenous studies, students critically analyze the theoretical underpinnings of land-based education. Students explore key concepts such as place-based learning, experiential education, eco-literacy, and Indigenous ways of knowing. By participating in interactive lectures, discussions, collaborative group activities, presentations, and guest speaker sessions, students acquire fundamental insights into the connections between land, Indigenous knowledge systems, and educational methodologies. Students develop and articulate their own theory and practice of land-based education and consider implications for facilitating land-based learning in their own diverse classroom settings.

This course is offered in conjunction with the Summer Institute. This course is reserved for students in the WSD Inquiry stream and Indigenous Knowledges stream permission of department is required. This course counts as an elective in the Indigenous Knowledges and General streams.