Alberta government rapidly appointing new teacher groups to review curriculum
Meetings tentatively scheduled in Edmonton for next week
The Alberta government is disbanding a group of 350 teachers and other experts who have provided feedback for years on a new K-12 school curriculum.
A month after leaked curriculum proposals provoked an outcry from critics, emails obtained by CBC News show the government is hastily recruiting a new group of teachers to provide feedback.
The emails show Alberta school boards, First Nations and private schools were given one week to nominate teachers to serve on newly formed groups.
In-person meetings for elementary school teachers are tentatively scheduled in Edmonton for Nov. 25 and 26, where teachers will have two days to provide feedback on proposed edits to the kindergarten-to-Grade 6 curriculum.
"The [curriculum working group] membership has been refined to focus on engaging with Alberta certificated teachers based on grade grouping and subject expertise," Alberta Education deputy minister André Corbould wrote in a Nov. 10 email to schools and board superintendents.
Education Minister Adriana LaGrange has previously said drafts of the new K-6 curriculum will be released for public feedback by early 2021. Classroom testing will begin in September 2021.
But in October, leaked drafts of the social studies and fine arts curriculum for early elementary grades left many educators and teaching experts feeling troubled and angry.
Advisers hand-picked by the government chosen to reform the curriculum drafts approved by the previous NDP government recommended removing references to residential schools from the early grades, saying the negative effects of European settlers on Indigenous peoples were "too sad" for young children.
Curriculum experts called the proposals regressive, racist and lacking a basis in research. Proposals to cram hundreds of years of history about ancient civilizations into a single school year for eight- and nine-year-olds was unrealistic, they said.
Curriculum groups needed 'refreshing,' government says
Colin Aitchison, press secretary to LaGrange, said in an email Monday the government is "refreshing" the working groups because circumstances have changed for some of the 358 members, including retirements, family commitments, or their location.
LaGrange echoed that point on Tuesday.
"We know that the work realities and the life realities of the previous working groups may have changed given COVID and all of the circumstances over the last year and a bit, so this was just an opportunity to revitalize the group," she told reporters at the legislature.
In question period, LaGrange said there was a "decent chance" that some members of the working groups had retired.
She said there is now a push to assemble new working groups because of the need to complete the new K-6 curriculum.
"We have made a commitment to the public that we ... will be bringing forward the new curriculum, the new draft, in the new year, so our timelines are getting very tight with Christmas coming up very soon," LaGrange said.
Aitchison said school authorities can nominate teachers who previously served on the groups.
The government is trying to recruit teachers from all parts of Alberta, and some with Francophone and First Nations, Inuit and Métis expertise and experience. Teachers are expected to sign on for a year.
The previous groups included representatives from the Northwest Territories and Nunavut, which use much of Alberta's curriculum and standardized exams. Aitchison said the territories have been invited to participate in the new groups.
However, new working group members are expected to meet as early as next week.
A spokesperson for the Northwest Territories department of education, culture and employment said Monday the territorial government is deciding how best to participate, given pandemic restrictions. Jaimee Kepa said the territory would thoroughly review any new Alberta curriculum before adopting it.
Critics say timeline for meaningful consultation untenable
University of Calgary education professor David Scott, who has expertise in social studies curriculum, says he's never seen the Alberta government move so rapidly on consultations. The timeline to pull high-quality groups together on short notice is "untenable," he said.
"Perhaps they're trying to get it through very quickly without a lot of deliberation and scrutiny over what's happening," Scott said.
The best teachers for the job may not be available during the pandemic when hundreds of school staff across the province are isolated due to potential COVID-19 exposure, he said.
Alberta Teachers' Association President Jason Schilling said he doesn't understand the rush to get the draft documents in front of teachers as COVID cases and deaths are leaping in Alberta.
"What are they trying to hide by moving along this quickly?"
Schilling said he worries the groups are a "rubber stamp" to prove the government consulted teachers, but have no intention of taking their advice. Substitute teachers are also in short supply during the pandemic, he said.
NDP education critic Sarah Hoffman said dismissing members of the former working groups, who had spent years poring over the earlier drafts of curriculum, is disrespectful of their time and expertise.
All three critics were also concerned about the removal of 25 university professors who were part of the previous groups.
Aitchison said the government will hold separate consultations with deans of education from across the province.
Rising numbers of COVID-19 cases has also prompted the government to consider whether the meetings should be held online, he said.
Scott said he is pleased to see the UCP government engage teachers in the process, which had not been happening since the party took office in 2019.
He also said attempting to include a diversity of teachers, geographically, culturally and linguistically, is an important and positive step.
The government has said it will cover the costs of any travel or substitute teachers required.
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