Achi news desk-
A group of educators looking at the latest draft of Alberta’s new social studies curriculum say it still does nothing to address the program’s fundamental flaws.
However, Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides stands by his government’s draft proposal, saying he has taken into account all the concerns of educators.
“There’s a range of different people we listen to, of course, and some of the views you hear are a sample of those views but there are others who have been involved and others from all over the country who have made comments. ,” he told CTV Morning Live in an interview Thursday.
On Tuesday, CTV News heard from Dr. David Scott, associate professor at the University of Calgary’s Werklund School of Education, said the new curriculum, released on April 26, does not address many concerns.
Scott says there is no contemporary or relevant vision, a lack of opportunities to see the past, present and future through the lens of innate knowledge and limited opportunities for critical thinking and decision making.
“Despite the government’s claim that this program will help young people ‘develop critical thinking skills to make informed decisions,’ an analysis of the program has shown that only around 10 per cent of the skills and procedures can invite students to evaluate and create new knowledge. ,” said Scott.
He also says the new curriculum “treats students as empty vessels to be filled with knowledge.”
“(It) fails to recognize the diverse identities in Alberta today,” she said.
“(There are) no connections made to their existing frames of reference, along with personal and collective identities, which inform the way they come to new learning including discussing issues in our world today.”
The government listened to advice, said the minister
Nicolaides called social studies a “challenging subject” to teach and learn.
“Everyone has a different opinion in terms of history, in terms of politics and I recognize that not everyone is going to agree but our approach has been to make sure that students are taught a deep foundation and understanding of history in order to be able to understand . current affairs and have a curriculum that enables them to hone critical thinking skills and I think we have done just that.
“Less than 25 percent of all outcomes for the social studies curriculum require students to memorize or recall information and the remaining 75 percent are outcomes requiring students to analyze, develop ideas and strengthen critical thinking skills in truth
“We are fully listening.”
This is the first time in many years that Alberta has changed its social studies curriculum, Nicolaides said, adding that many previous governments have tried to do it but failed to accomplish the task.
“The current version that students learn is about eight years old and much has changed in the world. It is important that they learn from the most up-to-date curriculum possible.”
Discussions are still underway by many Alberta school boards about whether or not they will test the province’s new curriculum, but Nicolaides said there have been “early signs” of interest in trying it in 2024.
“(That) is absolutely fantastic because, of course, we need that validation on the ground,” he said.
“There’s no magic number of how many school boards I’d like to see but I’d like to see an environment where we have some pilot work done in our smaller cities and communities to get a good, broad representative example of Alberta students.”
School boards have until May 15 to decide whether they will test the government’s new curriculum.
Feedback from the pilot will be used to refine the curriculum before it is fully implemented in September 2025.
