TC² Conference
Living, Learning, and Leading in a Complex World
November 6, 2025
Registration is now closed. Thank you to all of our attendees. We hope to see you next year!
Join us for the TC² 6th Annual Online Conference on November 6, 2025.
New this year: more facilitators, more session options, and French-language sessions.
Grounded in The Critical Thinking Consortium’s revitalized framework for nurturing quality thinking that inspires action for a flourishing world, this year’s conference invites classroom teachers, instructional leaders, and school and system leaders to explore practical and impactful ways to navigate rapid change and intersecting challenges.
Registration Details
Join us via Zoom on Thursday, November 6, 2025. Register early to reserve your spot at the sessions of your choice!
Cost:
Partner rate: $225 per registrant + GST/HST
Non-partner rate: $275 per registrant + GST/HST
Registration deadline: Tuesday, November 4, 2025
Registration instructions:
Step 1: Register and pay for the conference
Step 2: Upon receipt of your registration confirmation email, you will be able to register for each session you would like to attend.
Additional information:
- Presentation slides will be shared as PDF documents upon request.
- Recordings of sessions will not be available.
- Registration fee is non-refundable.
- Conference registration cannot be shared between participants.
For conference registration inquiries, please contact Jacqueline Rajarathnam.
To learn more about customized sessions for your school or district, contact the Director of Professional Learning, Victoria Campoli.
We hope to see you there! Please share this opportunity with colleagues who may be interested.
Facilitators
|
|
|
 Garfield Gini-Newman |
 Laura Gini-Newman |
 Usha James |
|
|
 Pierre Ouellet |
|
|
 Kellie Wrigley |
Session Schedule
See below for full session descriptions.
Please note that all times are shown as Eastern Time (ET).
|
9:00 - 10:00 ET |
||||
|
Cohesion and alignment: thinking strategies to support planning that strengthens the throughline from the district to the school to the classroom |
Enseigner la pensée critique : Outils et pratiques du cadre TC² **Cancelled |
Re-thinking learning to value the process of thinking over the product Garfield Gini-Newman |
Habits for flourishing: Transformative thinking for leading and teaching in complex times Maria Vamvalis |
Beyond resilience: Helping learners flourish in the midst of chaos |
|
10:30 - 11:30 ET |
||||
| Designing rich learning experiences that support critical, creative, and collaborative thinking Garfield Gini-Newman |
Intégrer l'IA à nos processus : Comment le cadre TC² peut être une boussole dans le brouillard informatique **Cancelled |
Critical inquiry strategies for engaging in challenging conversations with learners Clarissa de Leon |
Thinking critically about data and partnerships: Enhancing outcomes for Indigenous students
|
Designing powerful professional learning opportunities: How to transform staff meetings, PLCs and other teacher learning opportunities to inspire educator learning and increase “buy-in” Usha James |
|
12:00 - 1:00 ET |
||||
|
Future-shaping learning: Nurturing well-being and agency in the climate era **Cancelled |
Les questions et les tâches : Catalyseurs de réflexion et d'exploration intellectuelle **Cancelled |
Reconnecting roots: A collaborative initiative for integrating land-based learning and Indigenous culture in provincial education Kellie Wrigley |
Keys for a flourishing classroom: Creating the conditions for flourishing learners
Garfield Gini-Newman and |
Using the TC² framework to guide for effective leadership Warren Woytuck |
|
1:30 - 2:30 ET |
||||
|
Reconciliation in practice: From awareness to action in classrooms and leadership |
Réseaux sociaux et identité : Réfléchir à nos choix dans un monde numérique **Cancelled |
From classroom “walkthroughs” to meaningful collaborative thinking: How leaders can make the most of their time when they visit classrooms Usha James |
Aligning practices for optimal success: Connecting learning goals, evidence of learning, instruction, and guidance |
How can we invite and encourage students to explore both the history and present-day realities of inequality with empathy, curiosity, and an open mind? Giovanna Longhi |
|
3:00 - 4:00 ET |
||||
|
Cohesion and alignment: thinking strategies to support planning that strengthens the throughline from the district to the school to the classroom |
Enseigner la pensée critique : Outils et pratiques du cadre TC² **Cancelled |
Re-thinking learning to value the process of thinking over the product Garfield Gini-Newman |
Habits for flourishing: Transformative thinking for leading and teaching in complex times Maria Vamvalis |
Critical inquiry strategies for engaging in challenging conversations with learners Clarissa de Leon |
|
4:30 - 5:30 ET |
||||
| Designing rich learning experiences that support critical, creative, and collaborative thinking Garfield Gini-Newman |
Intégrer l'IA à nos processus : Comment le cadre TC² peut être une boussole dans le brouillard informatique **Cancelled |
Beyond resilience: Helping learners flourish in the midst of chaos |
Thinking critically about data and partnerships: Enhancing outcomes for Indigenous students
|
Designing powerful professional learning opportunities: How to transform staff meetings, PLCs and other teacher learning opportunities to inspire educator learning and increase “buy-in” Usha James |
Session Descriptions
9:00 - 10:00 ET (sessions are repeated in the afternoon)
Cohesion and alignment: Thinking strategies to support planning that strengthens the throughline from the district to the school to the classroom
Usha James
How can we strengthen our efforts to improve student learning, particularly for those who are currently not benefitting from our practices? How can we be more certain of impact? How do we ensure the most strategic allocation and use of precious time, energy and resources? Educational leaders are working exceedingly hard. Everyone wants all students to succeed but something needs to change to ensure that we have the cohesion and alignment within districts and schools to amplify our efforts. In this session, Usha will share powerful thinking and planning strategies to guide your leadership decisions and actions.
Enseigner la pensée critique : outils et pratiques du cadre TC² - CANCELLED
Pierre Ouellet
Cet atelier offre une introduction au modèle TC² pour appuyer le développement de la pensée critique en salle de classe. Les participants découvriront des stratégies et des outils pédagogiques concrets qui encouragent les élèves à relever des défis critiques, à établir des critères de jugement et à considérer différents points de vue. L’atelier mettra en valeur des pratiques facilement transférables entre les disciplines, afin d’aider les élèves à formuler des jugements éclairés et bien fondés.
Re-thinking learning to value the process of thinking over the product
Garfield Gini-Newman
Often, products and performances form the basis of the evidence that is used to determine a student level of success. In an age of AI, products can easily be generated with little thought from the learner. If we wish to value slow, deep learning, then the process of thinking should carry much greater weight. Encouraging students to become problem managers can help build resilience and perseverance. In this session, Garfield will explore a learning approach that uses meaningful challenges as a springboard to learning and uses a variety of tools such as processfolios and Guides to Success to shift the focus for evaluating learning from products and performances to the process of thinking.
Habits for flourishing: Transformative thinking for leading and teaching in complex times
Maria Vamvalis
In times of uncertainty, leadership and teaching require ways of thinking that bring steadiness and insight. This session explores how transformative thinking habits can strengthen decision-making, deepen relationships, and renew perspective. Participants will consider how these habits ease the weight of leadership, re-energize professional practice, and support flourishing across schools and communities. Through dialogue and reflection, the session offers practical strategies that connect directly to daily realities. Educators will leave with fresh energy and a stronger capacity to lead and teach with insight and confidence in complex, demanding times.
Beyond resilience: Helping learners flourish in the midst of chaos
Laura GIni-Newman
Today, the stressors both adult and student learners are experiencing are continuous, cumulative and multi-faceted in nature, simultaneously bombarding lives from a wide range of sources. While the world changes at unprecedented speeds, creating situations of chronic stress, coping mechanisms have not. Resilience is simply no longer enough. It you support the learning of either students or adults in any way, join Laura in exploring the latest research on coping mechanisms and what it means to the way learners need to learn.
10:30 - 11:30 ET (sessions are repeated in the afternoon)
Designing rich learning experiences that support critical, creative, and collaborative thinking
Garfield Gini-Newman
Isolate lessons and end of unit tasks often lack the coherence and intentionality required for deep and lasting learning. Using rich learning experiences to frame learning enhances student engagement, leads to deeper learning, and enriches competency development. In this session, Garfield will share several examples, and will provide templates and a planning approach for developing rich learning experiences to ensure that teacher planning is efficient, students are more engaged and the learning goes deeper.
Intégrer l'IA à nos processus : Comment le cadre TC² peut être une boussole dans le brouillard informatique - CANCELLED
Jean-Marc Dupont
Destiné aux enseignants de la 4ᵉ à la 12ᵉ année ainsi qu’aux leaders scolaires (conseillers pédagogiques et directions), cet atelier explore comment le cadre du Critical Thinking Consortium (TC²) peut guider l’intégration réfléchie de l’intelligence artificielle. Ensemble, nous examinerons les opportunités et défis de l’IA, en utilisant le cadre TC² comme boussole pour orienter des pratiques pédagogiques critiques et équitables contribuant à notre communauté de penseurs.
Critical inquiry strategies for engaging in challenging conversations with learners
Clarissa de Leon
How can we engage in challenging conversations that surface when we teach about equity-focused topics, including marginalization, historical and contemporary socio-political issues, and justice? In this session, Clarissa invites participants to consider how a critical inquiry approach can help navigate difficult discussions and create opportunities for rich and transformative learning. Together, we will discuss strategies for building accountable communities, planning lessons and units, and responding to tense moments. Throughout the session, Clarissa will share TC² strategies and resources that educators can use across different grades and subjects.
Thinking critically about data and partnerships: Enhancing outcomes for Indigenous students
Kellie Wrigley
How can we move beyond raw data to understand the deeper stories it tells about Indigenous students’ experiences and outcomes? This session invites educators and leaders to think critically about how data is gathered, interpreted, and acted upon—through the lens of meaningful partnership with First Nations communities. Facilitated by Kellie Wrigley, Education Director for Red Rock Indian Band and former provincial school administrator, the session offers high-leverage strategies for building trust, ensuring community voice, and co-creating supports that reflect lived experience. Explore what makes a partnership truly collaborative and ensures community voice to drive decisions.
Designing powerful professional learning opportunities: How to transform staff meetings, PLCs and other teacher learning opportunities to inspire educator learning and increase “buy-in”
Usha James
You might be asking yourself, “How can I advance the school learning plan and improve student learning if I can’t provide professional learning at staff meetings?” Or perhaps you’re wondering, “How can I make it more likely that learning at staff meetings actually transfers into classroom practice?” In this session, Usha will share a powerful and practical approach to structuring and facilitating staff meetings that can transform this precious time from optional, operational or one-sided to rich, valuable time for educators – making them hungry to attend and engage for the sake of their students, and themselves!
12:00 - 1:00 ET
Future-shaping learning: Nurturing well-being and agency in the climate era - CANCELLED
Maria Vamvalis
Young people are coming of age in a climate-shaped world that affects their well-being, hope, and possibility. Educational leaders face the challenge of supporting students not only to cope but to thrive. Drawing on leading research into holistic climate justice pedagogies, this session explores how schools can nurture resilience, mental health, and agency. Rather than adding to workloads, the approach aligns with priorities of equity, belonging, and engagement. Participants will gain insights and practical entry points for weaving climate realities into teaching and leadership in ways that inspire action and sustain flourishing.
Les questions et les tâches : catalyseurs de réflexion et d'exploration intellectuelle - CANCELLED
Giovanna Longhi
Qu'est-ce qui définit une question ou une tâche qui favorise la pensée critique, et comment ces questions ou tâches peuvent-elles être adaptées pour stimuler un raisonnement, une réflexion et une recherche plus approfondis ? Les questions ont longtemps servi de puissants catalyseurs pour l'apprentissage, favorisant la réflexion, l'engagement, la discussion et le discours significatif. Elles créent des occasions de collaboration et de réflexion, encourageant une exploration réfléchie dans toutes les matières. Dans cet atelier, les participants apprendront des stratégies pour affiner et renforcer les tâches et les questions à l'aide de six approches pratiques conçues pour favoriser le jugement raisonné. Des exemples illustreront les applications à différents niveaux scolaires et dans différentes matières.
Reconnecting roots: A collaborative initiative for integrating land-based learning and Indigenous culture in provincial education
Kellie Wrigley
This session explores how one First Nations community is working collaboratively with provincial school boards to deepen understanding of land-based learning and First Nations culture. Grounded in an inquiry approach, students follow the 13 Grandmother Moons, engaging in seasonal, land-based experiences that connect meaningfully back to the classroom. These experiences foster strong cultural identity and connection to land for First Nations students, while non-Indigenous students and educators gain deeper respect for Indigenous ways of knowing. Learn how authentic partnerships can bridge classroom and community, creating pathways for meaningful educational change grounded in culture, relationships, and the land.
Keys for a flourishing classroom: Creating the conditions for flourishing learners
Garfield Gini-Newman and Laura Gini-Newman
The pursuit of high grades may be an indicator of success with curricular outcomes but at what cost? For learners to truly flourish, academic achievement must be balanced with social-emotional well-being, nurturing a sense of identity and belonging, psychological well-being, and general happiness. In this session, Laura and Garfield will offer a clear definition for what it means to flourish and will share practices, strategies and routines that can help to ensure all learners including teachers can truly flourish.
Using the TC² framework to guide effective leadership
Warren Woytuck
As a system leader, there are so many programs and initiatives to be concerned about: How can I lead successful implementation? How can I ensure that programs have the desired outcomes? Designed for instructional, school, and system leaders, this session will explore TC²’s recently-revitalized framework and how it might be used to guide the implementation of any education initiative and inform any professional learning inquiry. The session will include practical examples of how each of the four dimensions of the framework can support impactful implementation of education programs and initiatives.
1:30 - 2:30 ET
Reconciliation in practice: From awareness to action in classrooms and leadership
Maria Vamvalis
Reconciliation in education is a daily responsibility. This session invites educators and leaders to continue moving beyond awareness into practice, drawing on insights from our forthcoming reconciliation resource. Together, we will explore what it means to engage respectfully with Indigenous knowledges, embrace discomfort as part of learning, and act with humility and accountability. Participants will consider concrete ways to integrate Indigenous perspectives, strengthen relationships with communities, and address systemic barriers. The session highlights reconciliation as lived practice, offering authentic entry points rooted in respect, relationship, and responsibility.
Réseaux sociaux et identité : Réfléchir à nos choix dans un monde numérique - CANCELLED
Pierre Ouellet
Cet atelier propose une exploration des enjeux liés à l’usage des réseaux sociaux chez les jeunes. L’accent est mis sur la place qu’ils occupent dans la vie quotidienne, leur rôle dans la construction de l’identité et les défis qu’ils posent en matière d’empathie, de perception sociale, d’empreinte numérique et de vie privée. L’atelier invite également à réfléchir à l’impact de la publicité, ainsi qu’aux questions de vraisemblance et de croyance dans un environnement numérique en constante évolution. L’objectif est de fournir des pistes de réflexion et d’accompagnement pour mieux soutenir les élèves dans leurs choix et leurs pratiques en ligne.
From classroom “walkthroughs” to meaningful collaborative thinking: How leaders can make the most of their time when they’re in classrooms
Usha James
Administrators know the value of being in classrooms for the purposes of advancing student learning just as district leaders know the importance of being in schools. But you might be feeling it’s impossible to carve out time to make these visits a reality unless you’re putting out fires or supporting behaviour management. And when you do find time, how do you ensure that your time is put to good use? Join Usha to explore an approach that can help realize your goals of making time and ensuring your visits have a significant positive impact on classroom practice and student learning.
Aligning practices for optimal success: Connecting learning goals, evidence of learning, instruction, and guidance
Garfield Gini-Newman and Laura Gini-Newman
Teaching is one of the most complex professions. Educators must juggle a diversity of learners, multiple ministry mandates and a rapidly changing world. If we hope for all our students to enjoy optimal learning, we need to ensure that what we value is reflected in daily instructional practices, in the kind of evidence we gather and in the nature of the guidance provided. Laura and Garfield will explore with participants how core learning goals that underpin learning in schools, and the design and implementation of rich learning experiences, can be optimally aligned to ensure all students best reach their potential.
How can we invite and encourage students to explore both the history and present-day realities of inequality with empathy, curiosity, and an open mind?
Giovanna Longhi
How might educators invite students to critically engage with difficult topics while addressing the challenges of denial, avoidance, and the ethical responsibilities held toward one another? Drawing on the insights of bell hooks, Kimberlé Crenshaw, Audre Lorde, and others, this session shares recommendations and highlights supports, both emotional and intellectual, that enable teachers to feel prepared and confident in teaching these topics, making critical approaches more accessible and sustainable in practice.
3:00 - 4:00 ET
Cohesion and alignment: Thinking strategies to support planning that strengthens the throughline from the district to the school to the classroom
Usha James
How can we strengthen our efforts to improve student learning, particularly for those who are currently not benefitting from our practices? How can we be more certain of impact? How do we ensure the most strategic allocation and use of precious time, energy and resources? Educational leaders are working exceedingly hard. Everyone wants all students to succeed but something needs to change to ensure that we have the cohesion and alignment within districts and schools to amplify our efforts. In this session, Usha will share powerful thinking and planning strategies to guide your leadership decisions and actions.
Enseigner la pensée critique : outils et pratiques du cadre TC² - CANCELLED
Pierre Ouellet
Cet atelier offre une introduction au modèle TC² pour appuyer le développement de la pensée critique en salle de classe. Les participants découvriront des stratégies et des outils pédagogiques concrets qui encouragent les élèves à relever des défis critiques, à établir des critères de jugement et à considérer différents points de vue. L’atelier mettra en valeur des pratiques facilement transférables entre les disciplines, afin d’aider les élèves à formuler des jugements éclairés et bien fondés.
Re-thinking learning to value the process of thinking over the product
Garfield Gini-Newman
Often, products and performances form the basis of the evidence that is used to determine a student level of success. In an age of AI, products can easily be generated with little thought from the learner. If we wish to value slow, deep learning, then the process of thinking should carry much greater weight. Encouraging students to become problem managers can help build resilience and perseverance. In this session, Garfield will explore a learning approach that uses meaningful challenges as a springboard to learning and uses a variety of tools such as processfolios and Guides to Success to shift the focus for evaluating learning from products and performances to the process of thinking.
Habits for flourishing: Transformative thinking for leading and teaching in complex times
Maria Vamvalis
In times of uncertainty, leadership and teaching require ways of thinking that bring steadiness and insight. This session explores how transformative thinking habits can strengthen decision-making, deepen relationships, and renew perspective. Participants will consider how these habits ease the weight of leadership, re-energize professional practice, and support flourishing across schools and communities. Through dialogue and reflection, the session offers practical strategies that connect directly to daily realities. Educators will leave with fresh energy and a stronger capacity to lead and teach with insight and confidence in complex, demanding times.
Critical inquiry strategies for engaging in challenging conversations with learners
Clarissa de Leon
How can we engage in challenging conversations that surface when we teach about equity-focused topics, including marginalization, historical and contemporary socio-political issues, and justice? In this session, Clarissa invites participants to consider how a critical inquiry approach can help navigate difficult discussions and create opportunities for rich and transformative learning. Together, we will discuss strategies for building accountable communities, planning lessons and units, and responding to tense moments. Throughout the session, Clarissa will share TC² strategies and resources that educators can use across different grades and subjects.
4:30 - 5:30 ET
Designing rich learning experiences that support critical, creative, and collaborative thinking
Garfield Gini-Newman
Isolate lessons and end of unit tasks often lack the coherence and intentionality required for deep and lasting learning. Using rich learning experiences to frame learning enhances student engagement, leads to deeper learning, and enriches competency development. In this session, Garfield will share several examples, and will provide templates and a planning approach for developing rich learning experiences to ensure that teacher planning is efficient, students are more engaged and the learning goes deeper.
Intégrer l'IA à nos processus : Comment le cadre TC² peut être une boussole dans le brouillard informatique - CANCELLED
Jean-Marc Dupont
Destiné aux enseignants de la 4ᵉ à la 12ᵉ année ainsi qu’aux leaders scolaires (conseillers pédagogiques et directions), cet atelier explore comment le cadre du Critical Thinking Consortium (TC²) peut guider l’intégration réfléchie de l’intelligence artificielle. Ensemble, nous examinerons les opportunités et défis de l’IA, en utilisant le cadre TC² comme boussole pour orienter des pratiques pédagogiques critiques et équitables contribuant à notre communauté de penseurs.
Beyond resilience: Helping learners flourish in the midst of chaos
Laura GIni-Newman
Today, the stressors both adult and student learners are experiencing are continuous, cumulative and multi-faceted in nature, simultaneously bombarding lives from a wide range of sources. While the world changes at unprecedented speeds, creating situations of chronic stress, coping mechanisms have not. Resilience is simply no longer enough. It you support the learning of either students or adults in any way, join Laura in exploring the latest research on coping mechanisms and what it means to the way learners need to learn.
Thinking critically about data and partnerships: Enhancing outcomes for Indigenous students
Kellie Wrigley
How can we move beyond raw data to understand the deeper stories it tells about Indigenous students’ experiences and outcomes? This session invites educators and leaders to think critically about how data is gathered, interpreted, and acted upon—through the lens of meaningful partnership with First Nations communities. Facilitated by Kellie Wrigley, Education Director for Red Rock Indian Band and former provincial school administrator, the session offers high-leverage strategies for building trust, ensuring community voice, and co-creating supports that reflect lived experience. Explore what makes a partnership truly collaborative and ensures community voice to drive decisions.
Designing powerful professional learning opportunities: How to transform staff meetings, PLCs and other teacher learning opportunities to inspire educator learning and increase “buy-in”
Usha James
You might be asking yourself, “How can I advance the school learning plan and improve student learning if I can’t provide professional learning at staff meetings?” Or perhaps you’re wondering, “How can I make it more likely that learning at staff meetings actually transfers into classroom practice?” In this session, Usha will share a powerful and practical approach to structuring and facilitating staff meetings that can transform this precious time from optional, operational or one-sided to rich, valuable time for educators – making them hungry to attend and engage for the sake of their students, and themselves!
Register for the Conference Now!