INNISFAIL - Both the Chinook’s Edge School Division (CESD) and the Red Deer Catholic Regional Schools (RDCRS) division are taking part in the new K-6 Social Studies curriculum pilot project, with officials hoping local teacher input will be considered as the initiative moves forward.
During the 2024-25 school year more than 400,000 Alberta students will be part of the pilot. About 40 CESD teachers and about 30 RDCRS teachers will be involved.
The Innisfail-headquartered CESD has 11,000 students in schools across the region, while the 10,600-student RDCRS division also has schools in the district, including in Olds and Innisfail.
Ryan Sawula is the associate superintendent for curriculum and inclusion with RDCRS.
“Our educators are eager to explore the curriculum components and assess the learning outcomes and instructional approaches in their classrooms,” Sawula told the Albertan.
“RDCRS firmly believes that classroom teachers are the true experts in curriculum, and their feedback will be invaluable for providing insights to Alberta Education during this pilot process.”
Developed over the past year, the proposed new social studies curriculum “focuses on building students’ critical thinking and empowers them to be engaged citizens,” says Minister of Alberta Education Demetrios Nicolaides.
He says the curriculum is being updated to “strengthen opportunities that encourage the development of critical thinking skills, enhance the development of skills related to the concept of active citizenship, and reflect the growth of learners through learning progressions that expand from individual experiences to communities and beyond.”
Throughout the piloting process, teachers will be provided with information and tools needed to work with the draft curriculum in their respective classrooms, he said.
Those supports will include teacher release days to support planning and instruction preparation, learning and teaching resources, professional learning opportunities, and opportunities to provide feedback to Alberta Education on the curriculum, including how it is being experienced in classrooms, he said.
Tools will include quick reference videos, subject-specific overviews and illustrative examples, he said.
Jason Drent is associate superintendent of learning services with CESD. The 40 division teachers taking part in the pilot project range from kindergarten to Grade 6, he said.
“They will all be participating in some form or fashion,” he told the Albertan. “The piloting looks a lot different than we have participated in previously, with the teachers having maximum flexibility to pilot complete courses or maybe units of study, and in particular they get to choose the outcomes.
“One of the biggest pieces to realize is that there is significant change in the curriculum and as such there is some work for teachers to do to align with students’ previous knowledge.”
The division is “really supportive of the flexibility of the pilot,” he said. “The most important thing is for our teachers to get hands-on experience with the new curriculum in front of students. We are really happy that the government says it is open to feedback during the entire process, because that is really critical for proper implementation to occur.”
Asked what the government is expected to do once the pilot is completed at the end of the new school year, Drent said, “We don’t know the specifics on that, but what has been confirmed with us is that as teachers enter into the new year (2025) we will get more clarification from the government in terms of what particular grades will have full implementation in September (2025) and then we will go from there.”
In all, 62 school divisions and authorities will be taking part in the pilot project.
