As the school year is winding down and students are have their sights set on summer, Alberta Education already has their sights on what students will be learning in years to come.
On June 15th, Education Minister David Eggen announced that Alberta Education would be seeking input from the residents of Alberta as to what curriculum will be coming to Alberta’s classrooms.
Alberta Education’s new approach to developing curriculum will span six years and work will be done simultaneously on six subject areas: Arts, Language Arts (English, French, Français), Mathematics, Social Studies, Sciences, and Wellness.
“This government is committed to developing curriculum – including the fundamentals of reading, writing and math – that ensures children have the best possible start in life to prepare them for rewarding careers in a diversified economy. Critical subject areas have not been updated in many years, so this work is long overdue. This new process will allow us to fulfil our commitments to educate our students about the history, perspectives and contributions of our Francophone, First Nations, Métis and Inuit peoples and communities.”, said David Eggen, Minister of Education.
The plan according to the release from the Province states that future provincial curriculum in all subjects will have a common design and student-centred direction, which will ensure consistency across the K-12 curriculum. It is anticipated that this will make it easier for teachers to plan across subjects. It will also enhance the ability of those teachers who are teaching multiple subjects across grade levels to provide a more cohesive program, improving the overall learning experience for students and reducing teachers’ planning time.
Mark Ramsankar, President, Alberta Teachers’ Association commented,” Sleeker programs, allowing teachers to go more in-depth and to bring in more local elements, will ensure that our programs remain engaging, fulfilling and responsive to student needs. Teachers and the profession are excited for the changes and look forward to partnering with government on curriculum development.”
The role out for these changes should look something like this:
• New curriculum will be developed for Kindergarten to Grade 4 by late 2018. Grades 5 will follow that to 8 in late 2019. After that, our high school curriculum will be developed in phases from 2020 to 2022.
• Current curriculum remains in effect until new curriculum is implemented.
So what will all this cost Albertans? The costs for this new curriculum development are funded through current budget allocations according the Provincial Government and no new money is required. The cost over six fiscal years is estimated at $64,430,684. This includes $38,850,000 for staffing, $20,394,684 for the engagement strategy and $5,186,000 for CDA.
I reached out to Rocky View Schools Trustee Bev LaPeare who said, “I haven’t seen what the new curriculum is going to look like, however, I do believe that the voice of parents wanting to have a balanced approach to literacy and numeracy has been heard. Kids need to have a good understanding of the foundations of education in terms of literacy and numeracy before they move on to more complex ideas. The Minister spoke to us at the ASBA SGM in Red Deer about the fact that this is the first time that 6 courses have been revamped at the same time. They’re trying to move the curriculum to reflect the current reality in terms of what our students need. There’s so much new information that kids are going to be able to be the recipients of that wasn’t a part of the old curriculum. Computer coding, FNMI history and relevance and mental health education are all new and very relevant for our kids. Our students are quite clear in terms of wanting to be taught material that is authentic and relevant. We’ve heard that loud and clear during focus groups that we’ve had with our students. We all learn better when we know that what we’re learning is pertinent to our lives”.
LaPeare continued saying, “Although the ministry has stated that there will be consultation taking place, we haven’t been told as a Board that we’ll be a specific part of it. I’m not sure how much consultation will affect the curriculum though, given the quick timeframe in which it’s being built”.
