“Ditch the Draft Curriculum” protests took place in Calgary, Edmonton, Grande Prairie, Lethbridge, Medicine Hat, Red Deer and Vermillion-Lloydminster-Wainwright. Attendees protested against the new curriculum for the kindergarten until the 6th grade, which has been on fire for months.
“Enough is enough. This curriculum is not worthy of our students,” said Carla Peck, a professor of social studies at the University of Alberta who helped organize the protest in the Legislature.
“The quality is not good enough; it will bring education to Alberta — and the students who receive that education — 50 years or more back.”
The provincial government began to review the K-6 curriculum in 2019, then began drafting a new one in the summer of 2020. The drafted curriculum was open to the public for review and comment until February.
Many have criticized the process as well as the content of the curriculum – particularly the social studies department, which teachers, parents and indigenous leaders and elders called racist, Eurocentric, age-inappropriate and misinformed.
The provincial government has since rewritten the draft of the social studies curriculum.
Carla Peck, a professor of social studies at the University of Alberta, helped organize the protest in Edmonton on Saturday. (Emily Fitzpatrick / CBC)
In January, the county formed an advisory group – consisting of 17 bureaucrats, supervisors, school administrators and teachers – to find the best way to implement the new curriculum in the fall.
Protesters on Saturday hope their calls will prompt the Alberta government to reconsider the process and eventually draw up a different curriculum for students, Peck said.
“This curriculum ultimately concerns the future of our province, the future that our students will have and grow up with,” he said, noting that curricula may exist for 20 years or more.
“It’s really important – the quality of the curriculum we implement in schools – and we have to do it right.”
Heather Taschuk, a teacher and parent, has many concerns about the draft curriculum, including how the county wants teachers to teach it. (Emily Fitzpatrick / CBC)
Peck also wants teachers to have more say in the writing process, he said.
Heather Taschuk, a teacher and parent of a third grader, attended the legislative speech on Saturday. He was holding a pink sign indicating that the draft curriculum forces students to memorize what is being taught, instead of giving them space to explore on their own.
After a boost over the past two years, many teachers see continuing with the curriculum draft as a milestone, he said.
“When we know it’s not the right way, we do not have a buy-in. We do not want to publish it when it has already been exploited,” Taschuk said.
The Alberta government respects the right to peaceful protest, but remains in the “transparent and open” process of reviewing the one-year curriculum, said Katherine Stavropoulos, spokeswoman for Education Minister Adrian LaGrange, in a statement to CBC News.
“Parents were clear that they expect our education system to provide their children with a strong base of basic knowledge and skills, and that is exactly what our government intends to offer,” Stavropoulos said.
The government takes into account all comments, from public participation and pilot implementation in the classroom, on the content of the curriculum plan, Stravropoulos added.
The president of ATA is worried about how little the pilot operation took place
Jason Schilling, president of the Alberta Teachers’ Union, attended the protest in Edmonton, supporting the concerns expressed by Peck and other protesters.
“Many teams say, ‘No. “We do not want that in our schools.” And we do not see the government listening to these concerns, “Schilling told CBC News.
He is also concerned about how well the curricula have been tested before they are released.
Last spring, school authorities could voluntarily participate in a pilot program where teachers could select one or more courses from the new curriculum to teach in the classrooms from September to February of the current school year.
ONE small number of teachers chose to teach subjects other than English language arts, mathematics and physical education and wellness. The French language courses were not piloted.
Jason Schilling, president of the Alberta Teachers’ Association, is concerned about how many courses were piloted before being distributed to students. (Emily Fitzpatrick / CBC)
The province is following a “balanced and measured” approach to implementing the school curriculum, based on the advice of its advisory team, Stravopoulou said.
Last month, Education Minister Adriana LaGrange announced that third-graders would be taught new English math and arts curricula in September, but grades 4 through 6 would not be taught the new curriculum. in these subject areas until the following school year.
However, all K-6 students will be taught the new wellness and physical education curriculum in the fall.
By May, the Provincial Advisory Group will make recommendations on piloting and implementing fine arts, science, social studies, French First Language and Literature and French Immersion French Arts and Literature curricula, according to its website.
Schilling has not heard much comment from teachers involved in drafting the curriculum because they were forced to sign a non-disclosure agreement that lasted for a year, he said.
