Professional development
We have free full- or half-day professional development workshops for teachers looking for new ideas about how to teach Ontario history. Available in person or online.
Current workshops
Our full-day professional development workshops are organized by theme.
All workshops are offered in person at the archives or online.
Contact us to schedule a workshop or for more information.
Bringing history to life: Strategies for an Engaged Classroom
This workshop provides educators with practical strategies, inquiry-based activities and resources to enrich social studies and history teaching.
Workshop highlights:
- behind-the-scenes tour
- opinionnaires
- inquiry based learning
- creating to understand
Max participants: 30
Artful thinking: exploring history through creative expression
Discover how art can deepen historical understanding in this hands-on, full-day professional development workshop for history teachers. Explore object-based learning, sketching, painting and monument design as tools for engaging students in critical and historical thinking. Through creative expression and reflection, you’ll gain practical strategies to bring history to life and inspire students’ connections to the past.
Workshop highlights:
- object-based learning
- create your own painting
- practical activities for the classroom
Max participants: 30
Game-based learning for history and social studies classrooms
Interested in incorporating game-based learning into your teaching? This workshop shows how gamification and game-based learning contribute to meaningful learning experiences. Teachers will engage with different games and learn how to create their own board game for the classroom.
Workshop highlights:
- existing games for history teaching
- principles of classroom game design
- creating a game
Max participants: 30
Summer Teacher Institute
Our Summer Teacher Institute is a five-day program for Ontario teachers to develop pedagogical competency with primary sources. Throughout the institute, teachers explore:
- practical approaches for using archival materials in class
- game-based teaching
- relevance of Ontario history for students of diverse backgrounds
- complementary cultural institutions
Sign-up information for the 2026 institute will be available soon.
Our approach to professional development
Our professional development programs are free for educators.
We understand the Ontario curriculum because we’re also trained teachers.
Learning should be playful. Not just for students, but for educators of all ages.
We can work with you to create a workshop. If you want to learn about a particular topic that isn’t listed here, tell us and we’ll do our best to select records and activities that fit your needs.
Visit Topics A-Z to discover the wide variety of records in our archival collection.