Chestermere MLA and Education Critic Bruce McAllister has joined mother-of-three and medical doctor Dr. Nhung Tran-Davies in calling for an overhaul of the math curriculum from discovery-based learning, back to mastering the fundamentals of mathematics.
“Alberta students are graduating from our education system less prepared than ever to succeed in the job market and it’s because Alberta Education is foisting this flawed learning method upon them,” McAllister said in a March 11, press release.
In mid-December 2013, Tran-Davies started the petition Back to Basics: Mastering the fundamentals of mathematics, and has since then gathered nearly 10,000 signatures asking Alberta Education to make changes to the curriculum to, “once again go back to embracing the basics so that our children can be empowered by mastering the fundamentals of mathematics.”
“I am deeply troubled, and doing all I can to hold the government to account on the issue,” McAllister wrote in a column about the petition to Rocky View Weekly. (See full column on page 8). “I’m a father-of-three, and what happens in our children’s schools matters greatly to me.”
McAllister said Alberta Education has moved away from traditional learning models that taught basic math skills such as the multiplication tables, to “discovery learning,” which encourages students to “invent their own learning techniques and strategies.”
“In practice, the ‘new math’ glares of absurdities in that students are led through multiple convoluted ‘strategies’ to get to a solution, with no emphasis on mastering any one method,” Tran-Davies wrote in the petition.
“The result: kids are confused, marks are dropping in record numbers, and parents are forced to find help from programs like Kumon and Sylvan Learning,” McAllister wrote.
“When there is no emphasis on mastering any one method, the importance of knowing basic math facts (e.g. algorithms, time tables, automatic recalls, vertical additions) is diluted down to a weak understanding and poor grasp of basic mathematical concepts in addition/subtraction and multiplication/divisions, which in effect ill-equip our children to reconfigure equations in their own minds, problem-solve, and think critically,” Tran-Davis wrote.
McAllister notes results on the 2012 Program for International Assessment, which indicated Alberta fell from eighth place in the world in math and second in the world in both reading and science in 2009, to 11th in math, fifth in science and fourth in reading.
He said in Canada, Alberta has dropped from first place to the Canadian average.
“Quebec, by the way, is now tops in the country – and you guessed it – they focus on traditional teaching methods,” he wrote in his column.
Tran-Davies suggested in the petition the time for action is now when Alberta Education is in the process of making revisions to the curriculum.
Alberta’s Education Act was passed in December 2013 and is currently under review by the Minister’s Education Act Regulatory Review Committee. The new legislation from the Education Act Regulatory Review will likely come into force in time for the 2015 to 2016 school year, according to Alberta Education’s website.
A response from Alberta Education was not received as of press time but Alberta Education Director of Communications Leanne Niblock said in a Dec. 16, 2013 Rocky View Weekly article, Alberta Education continues to prepare students for the future through their vision of Inspiring Education.
“We are in the process of redesigning the entire curriculum to focus on literacy, numeracy and competencies such as critical thinking and problem solving. And rest assured, literacy and numeracy will be the foundation of every subject and every grade level,” she wrote.
“Curriculum redesign is a key piece of the transformation. Teachers are encouraged by the prospect of curriculum that puts student learning first by emphasizing the foundational competencies while providing more local flexibility,” said Alberta Teacher’s Association President Mark Ramsankar in a press release about the government’s review of curriculum on March 13.
He added the goals of the curriculum redesign are good but still has some concerns.
“The role of teachers needs to be clarified, more public engagement is required, the pace of implementation should be examined and we need to ensure the curriculum is balanced,” he said.
For now, Tran-Davies will continue to collect signatures and push for change as the number of signatures collected slowly approaches the 15,000-signature goal.
“When I look at my children, I am reminded that this fight is not just between a parent and the system, but rather it is a fight for our children’s basic right to a good education,” Tran-Davies wrote in a March 10, column in The Globe and Mail.
For more information on the petition, visit change.org and search “Back to Basics.”
