Prairie Rose teachers prepping for upcoming curriculum

By Anna Smith Southern Alberta Newspapers on April 21, 2022.

Revisions to the Alberta curriculum are expected to come out early this month, and Prairie Rose Public School is already hard at work preparing teachers for what awaits in the upcoming school year.

“Our understanding is that some revisions have been made to the curriculum, pieces that are rolling out in the new school year … So we’re certainly looking forward to having our look at those documents and diving in deep,” said superintendent Reagan Weeks.

While Weeks notes they don’t yet know what revisions will be made, this hasn’t prevented staff from starting the necessary work to make the changes smooth as possible.

“We do have a group of teachers who have been working with the local professional development consortiums, and beginning to deconstruct the contents of the curriculum and make connections across concepts,” said Weeks. “And so that work has already begun. Moving forward however, we will use SI days and create a plan to support teachers as they begin to implement this work.”

Weeks said implementing a new curriculum is a significant undertaking for teachers, and while they are hard at work supporting this process, it won’t come as a surprise to her or the board if there are still adjustments being made in September.

“We did a deep dive into the curriculum prior to the revisions. So we have had teachers look deeply at that coursework,” said Weeks. “We submitted a plan to the government that gave our teachers feedback. And so that piece has been done. So we do have an understanding of where teachers are at with it. And it is going to be a lot of work for them and coming out of a pandemic but we also know that we’ll have support in place as they undertake this adjustment.”

It’s likely to be ongoing work, especially as revisions are released to school divisions, but Weeks is confident students will continue to receive the quality education they have come to expect.

“We will continue to refine as we go,” said Weeks. “I mean, the truth is, Alberta has a world-class education system because of our teachers. And that’s certainly not going to change because of an updated curriculum. They will continue to be the best there is in this work.”

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