SOS Position on Draft K-4 Social Studies Curriculum Document
SOS has reviewed the draft K-4 social studies curriculum document recently leaked to CBC, and we have the following concerns:
SOS is concerned that if the politicization of curriculum development, and the exclusion of curriculum experts and teachers seen in this draft document, is applied to curriculum development across all subjects and grades, the result will be an inferior curriculum that teacher are unwilling to implement, and one that harms rather than aids student learning.
SOS echoes the calls from the ATA, outlined in this online petition, for Minister LaGrange and Alberta Education to reject the recommendations in this draft, and reconvene the curriculum working groups for K-4 to review any other recent recommendations, and to fully respect the advice of these groups.
SOS also calls on the Minister of Education to commit to the longstanding, apolitical curriculum development process, and to dissolve the appointments of any curriculum advisors who were appointed on the recommendation of UCP politicians, rather than based on an assessment of their qualifications by Alberta Education.
Finally, SOS calls on the government to restore the curriculum development partnership with the ATA, as without the expertise and engagement of teachers, successful curriculum development is impossible.
SOS has reviewed the draft K-4 social studies curriculum document recently leaked to CBC, and we have the following concerns:
- The document contains many problematic proposals, notably the erasure of any references to residential schools or reconciliation; and the suggestion that Bible verses and other Judeo-Christian stories be taught in social studies and “coordinated horizontally with Science content” (p. 10). In the words of Dr. Carla Peck, a University of Alberta expert on curriculum development, the proposals in this draft document are “repulsive, regressive, and racist.”
- Chris Champion, the government’s hand-picked social studies advisor, has a Ph.D. in history, but no credentials in either social studies, K-12 education, or curriculum development. He appears to have been appointed on the strength of his Conservative ties rather than his qualifications, and has in the past described the teaching of Indigenous perspectives as a “fad.”
- The current government has abandoned common approaches to curriculum development used in other jurisdictions, and by previous Alberta governments. The approach used in the past (including under past Conservative governments) was that curriculum development experts within Alberta Education would lead the process and gather input from both teachers, subject matter experts, and First Nation, Métis and Inuit representatives. This process is described in detail on the Alberta Education web site, but does not appear to have been applied in this case.
SOS is concerned that if the politicization of curriculum development, and the exclusion of curriculum experts and teachers seen in this draft document, is applied to curriculum development across all subjects and grades, the result will be an inferior curriculum that teacher are unwilling to implement, and one that harms rather than aids student learning.
SOS echoes the calls from the ATA, outlined in this online petition, for Minister LaGrange and Alberta Education to reject the recommendations in this draft, and reconvene the curriculum working groups for K-4 to review any other recent recommendations, and to fully respect the advice of these groups.
SOS also calls on the Minister of Education to commit to the longstanding, apolitical curriculum development process, and to dissolve the appointments of any curriculum advisors who were appointed on the recommendation of UCP politicians, rather than based on an assessment of their qualifications by Alberta Education.
Finally, SOS calls on the government to restore the curriculum development partnership with the ATA, as without the expertise and engagement of teachers, successful curriculum development is impossible.