The Alberta Teachers’ Association

Despite some positives, recommendations are cause for concern on many fronts, say ATA experts

Fewer jobs for teachers, more non-certificated teaching staff and a general undermining of professionalism in the classroom — these are just a few of the concerns voiced by members of the Alberta Teachers’ Association’s Curriculum Committee following the release of recommendations by the government’s curriculum advisory panel.

Education Minister Adriana LaGrange released the report at a news conference in Calgary on Jan. 29. LaGrange said the committee found the current draft K–4 curriculum, which was reworked from 2016 to 2018, was mostly structurally sound.

“What was drafted is a good foundation to work on. But there is opportunity for further growth, for strengthening of the curriculum, and we really want to ensure we get it right,” LaGrange said at the news conference.

The report contains 26 recommendations that are broken down into four categories: curriculum development, curriculum content, assessment and draft K–4 curriculum.

Nancy Luyckfassel and Phil McRae, both members of the ATA’s Curriculum Committee, gave the report mixed reviews, suggesting that many of its recommendations could result in a negative impact on teachers and public education in the province.

They suggested that recommendations focusing on “single stream course offerings” and deleting CALM may create even larger and more complex high school classrooms with fewer certificated teachers supporting student learning. This change, along with the narrowing of course offerings, may be designed to open the door for “budget efficiencies.”

GOVERNMENT OF ALBERTA Education Minister Adriana LaGrange and Curriculum Advisory Panel member Glenn Feltham celebrate the release of the panel’s recommendations by posing for a photo-op with students from St. Marguerite School in Calgary.

“This could translate to fewer teachers and increasing cost pressures on schools,” said Luyckfassel.

They also pointed out that there appears to be an “undermining of professional judgment” throughout the document, especially in terms of teacher certification , performance-based models and teacher education programming related to curriculum.

“We get a sense that teachers are being further marginalized in some of the recommendations, just like there were no active teachers on this panel, and indeed nobody with any experience in the classroom in this millennium,” said McRae. “We are concerned that the government may be willing to position non-certificated teaching staff in schools to deliver the skilled trades or other programs.”

Economic focus

McRae also pointed to language that suggests the government may seek greater involvement of corporate and business interests to influence economic imperatives in future curriculum. He said that the Association believes business has a legitimate contribution to make, but curriculum must address much more than short-term economic objectives.

Within the report’s draft K–4 curriculum category, the pair noted a distinct narrowing of learning intentions to focus on core knowledge and “back to basics” when dealing with literacy, numeracy and history.

The report also advances the use of standardized testing, which doesn’t sit well with ATA president Jason Schilling.

“Alberta’s teachers have advocated for years against standardized assessments,” he said “and it’s disappointing that the panel wants to see them at every year of this curriculum.”

Luyckfassel and McRae did acknowledge the report possesses some promising points.

“There’s no doubt we have some issues with several of the recommendations,” said McRae, “but the report also provides some real room for collaboration with the government.”

He feels the report’s approach to the implementation of new curriculum has merit.

“It addresses the real need for adequate resources and an appropriate pace for implementation,” McRae said. “It opens the door for some co-operative work with the government in terms of curriculum validation and field testing where teachers have historically played an important role in Alberta.”

They applauded the report’s recommendations to keep the curriculum free from the “prescription of pedagogical approaches.”

Luyckfassel said it’s important to keep the two separate to honour professional judgment, though she resented the report’s use of the term discovery math as an example.

The province is seeking feedback through an online survey that runs until Feb. 26, a timeline that McRae finds unacceptable.

“For this government to impose a three-week timeline of response on a curriculum redesign process that has cost tens of millions of dollars, and spanned several years of public and professional consultation, is problematic,” he said. “This will shape our society for generations, and I don’t believe it honours all of the efforts and hard work that have been put into our world-class Alberta curriculum.” ❚