The Government of Alberta released its final curricula for K-6 English language arts and literature (ELAL), mathematics, and physical education and wellness (PEW) on April 13, along with a plan on how the new material will be implemented.
The new curricula for ELAL and mathematics will be implemented province-wide in kindergarten to Grade 3 classes starting in September, while the new PEW curriculum will be implemented for all of kindergarten to Grade 6 classes.
On top of those three curricula being implemented in the fall, schools will have a chance to pilot K-6 science, French immersion language arts and literature, as well as French first language and literature. Those drafts will be released in May.
The provincial government is providing $17.7 million by mid-May on a per-student basis across the province to enable purchasing or development of learning and teaching resources, as well as $20 million for professional learning for K-3 teachers.
The topic of the new curriculum was discussed at the Rocky View Schools (RVS) Board of Trustees meeting in Airdrie on April 28.
“We have to provide some information back to the government in the next couple weeks around how many teachers we have in the K-3 world and what our spending plan is on these resources,” RVS superintendent Greg Luterbach told trustees. “In total, it looks like our share of the $37.7 million will be about $1 million approximately to help support implementation.”
Alberta Education will retain $14.8 million to purchase, license, and develop resources for school authorities. Luterbach explained that textbooks don’t establish the curriculum, but that those resources support the curriculum instead, and the textbooks have to be approved by the government in support of the new curriculum.
The curriculum is made up of subject areas, which contain organizing ideas leading to guided questions, outcomes, key knowledge skills and understanding, and procedures, he said.
“Just over a year ago, the government released an updated or new draft curriculum for all subject areas for all [kindergarten] to Grade six,” Luterbach said. “If you recall a year ago, there was lots of conversation around that in the media, in social media, in government circles, and it didn’t take long for school divisions across the province to express concerns.”
Those concerns were raised due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the uncertainty of how that would impact the previous school year. Most of Alberta's school divisions said they weren’t willing to pilot the curriculum, some because they didn’t like the draft, and others because of pandemic-related stress, according to Luterbach.
RVS was one of dozens of Alberta school divisions that opted not to pilot the K-6 curriculum this school year, but did want to provide feedback. The school division collected feedback for the government via various sessions with parents, teachers, RVS’ learning department, and trustees.
In January this year, the government acknowledged they were listening to the feedback on their draft curriculum and created a curriculum implementation advisory group to guide and support the government on implementation. In response to negative feedback around the social studies curriculum, that section was tabled and a new blueprint was developed, Luterbach noted.
The superintendent added that over the last few weeks, there has been some commentary from post-secondary educational institutions that more changes to the curriculum are necessary.
“We do appreciate the government did consider the feedback both from our division and other school authorities and voices around the province,” Luterbach said. “The staggered curriculum implementation is good in my humble opinion. Is it the perfect way that I might do it? No, but if you look at curriculum implementation, you’re never going to solve all of the concerns and solve everyone’s problems.”
Workshops to prepare K-3 teachers at RVS to teach the new curriculum will begin this May and June.
Preparing those teachers is currently a balancing act, as they are still needed to teach kids in classrooms until the end of this school year, Luterbach explained.
The fine arts draft curriculum will be released and piloted later in the fall, while the new social studies draft curriculum is scheduled to be released in December.
RVS will review and determine limited pilots in grades 4 to 6 for ELAL and math in the 2022-23 school year, as well as portions of the K-6 science, fine arts, and French immersion language arts and literature. There is no further information about curriculum revisions beyond Grade 6.
For more information on the new curriculum and implementation schedule, head to curriculum.learnalberta.ca.
