NEWS FILE PHOTO
Mark Davidson, superintendent at Medicine Hat School District 76, says a delay in implementing an updated K-12 curriculum won't have a dramatic, direct impact on teachers.
jappel@medicinehatnews.com@MHNJeremyAppel The provincial government’s decision to delay implementation of the updated K-12 curriculum won’t change anything in classrooms this fall, according to administrators from both the city’s school boards.
Select classrooms across the province were slated to begin piloting the K-4 portion of the curriculum in September, but that’s being put on hold until the government engages in further consultations, as the UCP vowed to do in its successful election campaign earlier this year.
“It doesn’t really have a dramatic, direct impact on teachers who had intended to participate in the pilot. It just means that getting to a new curriculum will take longer than anticipated,” Mark Davidson, superintendent for the Medicine Hat Public School Division, told the News.
The process of updating the curriculum has been ongoing since 2008, spanning five premiers’ tenures.
Davidson says, at this point, educators in Alberta grown accustomed to delays.
“There’s been repeated processes of re-examination, consultation and then going back and re-thinking that curriculum,” he said. “I think teachers in jurisdictions of this province are used to the stop and start of curriculum consideration.”
Blame cannot be laid at the feet of any specific Alberta government, but the general instability of Alberta politics from 2008-2015 certainly played a role, Davidson said.
“You had minister after minister, each wanting, of course, to make sure that they felt really comfortable with the curriculum before they released it,” he said.
Davidson says he suspects there won’t be many structural changes to the curriculum when it’s approved.
“I understand that while the current minister and current government certainly wants to reconsider the curriculum and engage in dialogue with Albertans, I don’t hear from them that they intend to throw out all the work that’s been done by their predecessors,” he said.
Medicine Hat Catholic Board of Education associate superintendent Chuck Hellman agrees.
“There will be some slight changes, but the minister is saying that he wants more consultation,” he said. “I assume we’ll be involved again with whatever extra consultation the minister is looking for.”
It’s unclear at this point in the process what the government’s additional consultations will look like, Hellman added.
While MHCBE schools that were supposed to participate in the K-4 pilot won’t be anymore, Hellman says the board plans to continue with the more “concept-based” approach to learning outlined in the curriculum.
“It’s good teaching and it’s good learning,” he said of the flexibility concept-based learning provides to educators.
The Alberta Teachers Association voiced support for the delay in a Twitter thread, outing five conditions to be met before the curriculum is implemented based on a 2018 survey of 2,800 K-4 teachers.
The ATA is asking that the ministry ensure approved program resources are available at least one school year prior; allow one year of optional implementation; provide training for teachers required to teach the new programs; undertake a pilot project to evaluate the curriculum’s impact on teacher workload; and provide boards with the funds needed to acquire new resources.
“The existing plan for implementation did not meet these criteria, which is why the ATA is supportive of a delay,” the statement said.
“With new programs for six subjects across five grades, teachers must be well supported in order for implementation to be successful.”
