Concerns raised after Alberta Education announces new pilot draft curriculum
Alberta schools boards can choose to pilot three more subjects in the new K-6 draft curriculum this fall, which is drawing criticism from some parents and student advocates.
The first subjects will be science for kindergarten through Grade 6 students, French first language and literature, and the language arts and literature subject in French immersion programs.
The pilot program is optional.
Education Minister Adriana Lagrange unveiled the subjects and scope of pilot program on Tuesday.
"We have had the most extensive engagement process that I would say Alberta or any other province has ever seen on seen on curriculum development, where anyone and everyone has had the opportunity to share their feedback," she said.
Feedback is also being collected from the public through to spring 2023
FEEDBACK CONCERNS
However some Alberta parents are concerned Alberta Education officials haven't heard from a diverse perspective to incorporate into the draft curriculum.
"The main thing for me, is it doesn't incorporate the call the Truth and Reconciliation, calls to action 62 through 65, which are related to education," said Kim Thorsen, a Edmonton parent of a young student.
"That seems like such an obvious no-brainer. Those are already prepared for you, just incorporate those in the curriculum, (but) they were ignored."
Other parents say they are not keen for any further changes to the children's course load as the pandemic has already caused learning delays, with frequent shifts to online learning since March 2020.
“My fears with this new curriculum is that everything that they're going to try to push through all those kids that have been losing things in the past two years are going to get even further behind," said Cathy Reitz, whose son is in Grade 3 at a Calgary public elementary school.
Advocacy group Support Our Students (SOS) says it wants more transparency from the province regarding the draft curriculum revision process.
"We're really hoping to hear the government was going to release the results of the consultations," said executive director Medeana Moussa.
"(The province) got overwhelming engagement because parents, teachers, school boards, are very concerned about how this curriculum was developed in the first place."
FRENCH BOARD APPROVAL
Four Francophone school boards initially refused to implement early draft versions of some subjects and officials said Tuesday they accept changes regarding the French language subjects included in the next phase of the pilot.
"All four Francophone boards, teachers and educational advisors provide feedback that was that was reflected in this new draft," said Tanya Saumure, president Fédération des conseils scolaires francophones de l’Alberta.
"We will continue to work with Alberta education to provide feedback and to ensure that the new first French and new French first language and literature program meets the needs of francophone students across Alberta."
The president of the Federation des Parents Francophone de l'Alberta also expressed support.
"My expectation is that they will have rectified what was missing and made certain that the new draft meets the needs of the francophone students in our province," said Nadine Morton.
Morton adds that parents in the francophone community are still awaiting draft changes for social studies and music.
OTHERS OPPOSED
Leaders with the NDP opposition say if elected to government, they would go back to the drawing board.
“We would welcome teachers back to the table and we would make sure that we create a long term curriculum that can be successful for future generations," said Education Critic Sarah Hoffman.
Alberta's teachers' union says time is tight, and its members are challenged with ongoing pandemic concerns, including shortages due to sick leave, and the lifting of all public health restrictions in March.
“We're talking about the fall in September, that's only a couple of months away. We're in mid-May," said Jason Schilling, president of the Alberta Teachers' Association.
"There's a point in time where the government sort of needs to recognize we're too late to implement this in the fall, we are asking too much of our education system to do this next year. We need to scale this back."
Schilling says 97 per cent of teacher's have previously stated they lack confidence in the draft curriculum.
PILOT DETAILS
School boards have until June 6 to express interest of participating in the pilot.
Of the $59 million allocated for the curriculum overhaul program, the province will spend $6.5 million to support piloting program and feedback sessions.
Feedback has been collected over a 12-month period starting in March 2021 through online surveys and engagement sessions.
Alberta Education is expected to release the final draft of the curriculum in spring 2023 to be implemented that September.
The new curriculum will be implemented province-wide for the 2023-2024 school year.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
O'Toole says CSIS told him he was focus of Chinese misinformation, suppression effort
Conservative MP Erin O'Toole says Canada's spy agency has told him he was the target of Chinese interference intended to to discredit him and promote false narratives about his policies while party leader.

U.S. officer shoots at truck driver near N.B. border crossing
Traffic is back up and running through the border crossing between Woodstock, N.B., and Houlton, Maine, after a security scare Monday.
BREAKING | Blue Jays pitcher 'truly sorry' for sharing anti-LGBTQ2S+ video
Toronto Blue Jays relief pitcher Anthony Bass said he is 'truly sorry' for sharing a controversial anti-LGBTQ2S+ video on Instagram.
Human rights activist confirmed to be held in Chinese detention centre: family in Canada
Chinese authorities have confirmed that human rights activist Dong Guangping has been held in a Chinese detention centre since October of last year, according to the man's family in Canada.
BREAKING | Police identify engaged couple shot dead after dispute with landlord near Hamilton
A young couple shot and killed after a dispute with their landlord near Hamilton have been identified by police.
Priest charged in alleged sexual assault of 8-year-old girl on Manitoba First Nation
Manitoba RCMP have arrested a priest from a First Nation community who is accused of sexually assaulting an 8-year-old girl, and believe there may be more victims.
B.C. teacher who singled out students over their breasts, bathroom-use suspended for 5 days
A B.C. high school teacher is facing a five-day suspension and course requirement after making multiple students feel uncomfortable or embarrassed about their bodies—and it’s not the first time he’s been disciplined in the past decade.
Federal government aiming to dispose of half of its office buildings with hybrid work here to stay
The federal government is planning to offload up to half of its office buildings across the country, citing the rise in remote and hybrid work.
Air Canada failing to provide full services in both official languages: report
Whether travelling by plane, train or automobile, francophone travellers are struggling to access services in their language, Canada's official languages commissioner said Tuesday.