The province announced Wednesday that three subjects are ready for implementation in K-6 classrooms.
In March, Minister of Education Adriana LaGrange said that Alberta students in kindergarten to Grade 3 would learn the new mathematics and English language arts curriculum beginning in September 2022. Students in Kindergarten to Grade 6 will also begin the new physical education and wellness curriculum in the new school year.
The curriculum review which began more than a year ago, has been rife with controversy amongst members of the public, parents, educators and the Alberta Teacher's Association.
"Since day one of the curriculum renewal process I have been very clear that every Albertan has a say," said LaGrange. "I committed to the most open and transparent curriculum review process our province has ever seen and I have kept that promise."
Concerns have been raised surrounding age and grade appropriateness, racist and Eurocentric content and the handling of Indigenous content.
The province said feedback from educator and public engagement sessions will not be released until May, leaving a lack of clarity on whether or not the criticisms and feedback were actually considered in the final product.
“We know that hundreds of teachers, academics, parents and others have criticized the content and direction of the previous draft directly to the minister and through the very limited dialogue she has permitted to take place," said Alberta Teachers' Association president Jason Schilling. "But Albertans don’t know if today’s version of the curriculum incorporates that feedback or, instead, continues to reflect the political and ideological interference that has plagued this process so far.”
Apart from the concerns surrounding the content of the curriculum, Schilling said that the timeline is not feasible. In a press release, the ATA cited a survey which indicated that just three per cent of teachers believe they could successfully implement the new curriculum come September.
"We will have to hear now from teachers on whether today’s version alleviates their concerns, but if past practice and attitudes from government prevail, then I’m not optimistic," said Schilling.
Subjects still in the process of being updated include social studies, science, fine arts, French first language arts and literature and French immersion language arts and literature.
No timeline was provided for the release of the new draft of the fine arts curriculum, with LaGrange saying a draft would be made public following consideration of feedback. Although new content for that subject is expected to be in place by 2024.
LaGrange said school authorities will have the option to work with the final curriculum in Grades 4-6 mathematics and English in the upcoming school year if they choose. During that time, there will also be options to voluntarily pilot updated draft curriculum in science, French first language and literature and French immersion language arts and literature, she said.
In Dec. 2021 the province released a social studies draft blueprint for public feedback. LaGrange said an updated draft will be made available following consideration of that feedback. Additionally, she said further public engagement on the K-6 social studies curriculum will commence next spring, which will be taught beginning in the 2023-24 school year.
In spring 2023, the feedback received from classroom piloting will be used to make final updates to the science, fine arts, French first language and literature and French immersion language arts and literature curriculum. These subjects will be taught in K-6 classrooms beginning in September 2023, as will Grade 4-6 mathematics and English language arts.
Schlling said Wednesday that no educators had been privy to the content of the new documents prior to the release earlier in the day.
The ATA is creating an online portal where teachers can submit comments related to the revisions.
Next month, nine subject area specialists from the ATA will meet to discuss at length the content of the curriculum and what's next.
