Updated draft social studies curriculum headed to some Alberta classrooms this fall
Posted Apr 26, 2024 12:50 pm.
Last Updated Apr 26, 2024 12:51 pm.
A significant amount of feedback from teachers and parents has prompted content changes to the draft K-6 social studies curriculum, and now Alberta schools will have the option to try it out in their classrooms starting this fall.
Engagement on the curriculum began eight months ago, following a flurry of negative comments about age appropriateness, lack of critical thinking opportunities, and limited perspectives on different cultures, including First Nations and Metis, on the original draft released in 2019
Thousands of people provided their feedback, which has led the province to make several changes.
On Friday, Minister of Education Demetrios Nicolaides said that opportunities to develop critical thinking skills, including research and analytical skills, have been strengthened throughout the curriculum.
In addition, the province says the new curriculum will enhance the development of active citizenship skills, address feedback on developmental appropriateness and load, and reflect the growth of learners through learning progressions that expand from individual experiences to communities and beyond.
“I am incredibly proud of the work that’s gone into developing this new K-6 social studies curriculum, and I am excited to see how it transfers into the classroom through piloting this fall,” he said. “I look forward to further collaboration with school leaders and teachers as we continue our work to build a comprehensive curriculum that builds students’ critical thinking, problem-solving and decision-making skills, and empowers them to be active citizens.”
Optional piloting
The province says it will allow schools to choose which grades are a part of the pilot and how many learning outcomes will receive feedback.
Additionally, it says teachers will be given the information and tools they need to work with the draft in their classrooms, including teacher release days for planning and instruction preparation, learning and teaching resources, professional learning opportunities, and chances to give feedback to Alberta Education on the draft curriculum, including how it is experienced in classrooms.
Alberta Education will take the feedback from classroom piloting to finalize the K-6 curriculum before it is implemented.
Schools interested in piloting during the 2024-25 school year are asked to express their interest by May 15.
The province is spending $34 million to support the piloting and implementation of the curriculum in the upcoming school year.
Work has also been done to update directives related to the implementation of the curriculum from K-12.
Changes for junior high and high school include career education, knowledge and skills development, educational programming and preparing students to be active and engaged citizens.
Teacher’s association says feedback wasn’t considered
The Alberta Teacher’s Association (ATA) says it welcomed the chance to give feedback on the curriculum during the engagement period.
However, it claims those recommendations from teachers aren’t reflected in the recent draft, prompting the organization to call for a delay in the rollout.
Some of the outstanding concerns from teachers, according to the ATA, include the unrealistic number of concepts to be covered, some of which they say are “developmentally inappropriate and conceptually inaccurate,” as well as failing to engage higher-order thinking skills.
“What is the rush? Over the past three years, Alberta elementary schools have piloted and implemented new curriculum across four subject areas in seven grade levels,” said ATA president Jason Schilling. “The problems currently being faced by teachers having to implement a flawed math curriculum demonstrate the risk of proceeding prematurely to implement new curriculum content and design.”
At a time when schools are overcrowded and understaffed, Schilling says the launch of more new curriculum is overloading the system.
The province has also developed a new curriculum in science, French first language and literature, and French immersion language arts and literature. Students in K-3 began learning the new content in the 2023-24 school year.
The new curriculum in these three subjects will be implemented in Grades 4 to 6 in the 2024-25 school year, alongside the optional social studies program update.
