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Foothills School Division rejects piloting new K-Grade 6 curriculum

Division to continue to voice concerns to Alberta Education about proposed curriculum
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Foothills School Division trustees voted unanimously not to pilot new K to Grade 6 curriculum.

Okotoks - Foothills School Division will not pilot Alberta Education's proposed new kindergarten to Grade 6 curriculum in the fall. 

“In my time as an educator I have rarely received as much feedback from the community and staff on a topic as the draft curriculum,” said Chris Fuzessy, Foothills School Division superintendent at the April 14 school board meeting. “That feedback is overwhelmingly requesting the school division not to participate in a pilot.”

Trustees voted unanimously, 5-0. not to pilot the curriculum.

Education Minister Andre LaGrange announced the new curriculum in Late March. 

Foothills joined a growing list of divisions which have said ‘no’ to piloting  the proposed curriculum starting this fall. The curriculum is scheduled to be launched in September 2022 after being piloted at selected schools. 

Major school boards such as Calgary Board of Education, Edmonton Public Schools, and Lethbridge School Division have also said they will not have their schools pilot the curriculum. Smaller divisions across Alberta have also opted out.  

Fuzessy said the division had its own concerns about the curriculum to go along with those from the staff and community.

“In our own review of the draft as well as the implementation plan and participating in the pilot we have come away with concerns,” Fuzessy said.  

“When we look at our commitment to learning for transfer, a concept-based education model and moving ahead with these pedagogical approaches that equip our students with those skills and competencies we feel they will need to be successful upon graduation, a year from now, two years from now or 12 or 13 years from now, we don’t see those skills and values being reflected in our reading of the curriculum."

He said another concern was diverting focus away from pandemic and post-pandemic support to schools and community.

Bill Young, trustee for the Heritage Heights-Blackie-Cayley area, said he has concerns about potential political backlash.  

He said he is concerned that boards who don’t participate in the pilot would not be considered for any feedback. 

He also is concerned with what happens after the pilot is completed.  

“Is this a political balloon – is it going to be floated up in the air and everybody with slingshots takes shots?” Young said. “The comeback will be 'we listened to the people of Alberta and we are going to redo this curriculum.' 

“You need to redo a curriculum and it has taken them a year an a half to work on, how are you going to redo it in three months to get it out there (for the next term).'"

Fuzessy said he believes boards which do not participate in the pilot will be allowed to provide some feedback but he does not know to what degree.  

Black Diamond-Turner Valley trustee Jack Molyneux said it was important to continue to give Alberta Education feedback.  

“Now that we have said we will not pilot it, the feedback doesn’t stop,” Molyneux said. “Continue to say what is wrong with this curriculum, why it is not acceptable in the context of Alberta and within the context of country.  

“People need to continue to voice their concerns and opinions about it and what they see is wrong. It doesn’t stop here just because we aren’t going to pilot it.”  

A division press release stated is launching an upcoming engagement opportunity for the FSD community and staff team to provide feedback to Alberta Education.

Division chair Larry Albrecht said he has received more comments about the curriculum change than any other topic in his career as trustee. 

“It was informed feedback, it just hasn’t been a letter writing campaign,” Albrecht said.  

He said the division can’t dwell on the potential of being able to receive limited feedback in making its decision not to pilot the curriculum.  

“That is a problem they (the Province) will have to deal with their constituents on,” Albrecht said. “Our responsibility as a division is to react based on what is best for our students and our staff and I think that is our intent.”  

Wade Westworth, a teacher at Oilfields Jr./Sr. High School and the president of the Foothills Local ATA, said he is pleased with the trustees’ decision.  

“I’m proud they have reached that conclusion,” said Westworth said. “It was the right decision for students.” 

He said the proposed curriculum is fundamentally inappropriate for 5- to-11-year-old children.  

“It is not structured in a way that takes learners from acquiring new knowledge and making connections with that knowledge to other knowledge,” Westworth said. “And then transferring that understanding to new situations, which is kind of the learning process.  

“It asks them to deal with content that is too complicated for the age level.” 

The division will also be sending a letter concerning not piloting the curriculum to Foothills area MLAs RJ Sigurdson, Roger Reid and Miranda Rosin. 

Read more from OkotoksToday.ca 

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