SIRC Expert Webinars

Promoting Diversity and Social Justice in High School Sport: Evidence from Research and Practice

High school sport in Canada is a highly popular activity practiced by hundreds of thousands of student-athletes and overseen by tens of thousands of coaches. In this webinar, discussions will focus on examining how we can promote diversity and social justice in manners that provide safer and more inclusive sporting spaces for all participants. Researchers, physical education teachers, and coaches from different parts of Canada will provide evidence from research and practice, discussing the results of studies and initiatives designed to foster socially just sport.

For more information on the project, please visit the following link.

This webinar was hosted on Tuesday, May 7, 2024 at 7:30-8:45pm EDT.

Speakers and Panelists

Andrea Barrow

Andrea Barrow has been an educator with the Limestone District School Board (LDSB) for the past 15 years. Currently, she is the Equity and Inclusion Consultant in the secondary panel.  Andrea is an Ambassador with Ontario Physical Health and Education Association (Ophea) and a member of the Ontario Physical Activity Safety Standards in Education Committee. In 2022, Andrea was the recipient of the Ophea Outstanding Contribution award. Andrea is also part of the Executive Committee with  Ontario Association for the Support of Physical and Health Educators (OASPHE) as the Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion representative.

Andrea has worked with the Ontario Secondary School Teacher Federation (OSSTF) in the creation of “Addressing Anti-Black Racism” workshops as a member of the writing team and continues as a presenter. Most recently she has been an AQ writer and instructor with Queen’s University on Addressing Anti-Black Racism to Change Pedagogy and Practice.

Belinda Cox

Belinda Cox is a Health and Physical Education teacher in the Upper Grand District School Board. She is also an OPHEA (Ontario Physical and Health Education Association) Ambassador and an OASPHE (Ontario Association for the Support of Physical Health Educators) member. Belinda has been part of many national initiatives that support gender equity and inclusion in sports and Health and Physical Education curriculum, such as the Team Canada Olympic Day Grant, Canadian Women & Sport’s The Next Play, and Same Game. Belinda is a strong advocate for providing quality H & PE programming to foster belonging for students of all abilities.

Dustin Blumhagen

Dustin Blumhagen is a Physical Education teacher and Lacrosse Program Coach with Rocky View School Division in Alberta. Through the generosity of the Team Canada Olympic Day Grant, he has been working to establish and expand a high school lacrosse program. Dustin has coached a number of sports over the years, and is currently working with volleyball and lacrosse teams. He is a USA Lacrosse level 2 certified Women’s field lacrosse coach and NCCP Competitive Development box lacrosse coach.

Evan Bishop

Evan Bishop, B.Ed., Ph.D.(c) is a doctoral candidate at the University of Ottawa in the school of Human Kinetics. His doctoral research is centred on exploring Canadian high school sport coaches’ attitudes toward social justice. This doctoral research is part of a SSHRC-funded partnership development grant in collaboration with School Sport Canada held by his supervisor, Dr. Martin Camiré. Evan’s other research interests include life skills development in sport, coach education, and post-qualitative inquiry/posthumanist philosophy.

Laura Lindsay

Laura is a physical education teacher and the athletic director at Colonel Gray High School (CGHS) in Charlottetown, PEI. She is the vice president of the PEI Physical Education Association, coaches AAA rugby, and is a certified yoga instructor. She just graduated from Memorial University this past winter with a Masters in Human Kinetics and Recreation. Laura lives just outside of Charlottetown with her husband and two children.

Laura leads PHE Canada’s Game Changers Program at CGHS. Game Changers is a youth-centric program for students of all abilities to come together to create and implement inclusive school-based sport and physical activity programing tailored towards their needs and interests, while also working to develop their leadership skills.

Tarkington Newman

Dr. Tarkington J. Newman is an Associate Professor at the University of Kentucky College of Social Work and the Director of the Sport Social Work (SSW) Research Lab. Dr. Newman is committed to serving youth populations (ages 10-24) who are socially vulnerable and/or at-risk for behavioral and mental health problems. Their research has actively engaged populations including youth of color, youth from economically disadvantaged urban communities, and LGBTQ+ youth. Specifically, Dr. Newman’s research focuses on promoting critical positive youth development (CPYD) through sport and other forms of physical activity. Using both qualitative and quantitative methodologies, their research investigates mechanisms that promote the development and transfer of normative life skills (e.g., emotional regulation, communication, teamwork, leadership) and social justice life skills (e.g., antiracism, LGBTQ+ allyship, healthy masculinity, mental health literacy). The culmination of Dr. Newman’s research is related to CPYD-focused coach education and the use of social work practice in sport settings (i.e., sport social work). To date, they have published 58 peer-reviewed journal articles, presented 71 peer-reviewed international and national presentations, and helped secure $3,749,589 in grant funding/contracts for research. In addition to their scholarship, Dr. Newman has over 15 years of experience coaching track and field, earning three high school state championships in Michigan.