Alberta Legislature Rally Highlights Concerns About UCP K-6 Curriculum | The Canadian News

Months after its introduction, fierce opposition to the Alberta government’s draft K-6 curriculum continues.

Hundreds of people gathered in the legislature on Saturday to call on the province to “stop recruiting.”

“We need to keep talking about this until it’s over because our government is not listening,” said Angela Grace, one of the event organizers and a member of the steering committee for the Alberta Curriculum Analysis website.

“The main problem from my perspective is that they took this away from the teachers and put it in the hands of the politicians.”

Carla Peck is Professor of Social Studies Education at the University of Alberta. She has been a consultant on curriculum development across the country and internationally and says it’s about having as many perspectives and experts at the table as possible.

“Which is exactly the opposite approach this administration has taken,” Peck said.

“The real danger for us here is if this curriculum, which experts across the board have said that in every subject area there are some serious problems, if this curriculum is finally enacted, we could be stuck with it for decades.” .

For months, some of the main criticisms of the proposed curriculum included concerns about plagiarism, which teaches a Eurocentric history and there is a lack of accurate indigenous perspectives.

“It is very important that we get this right, and the current draft is rubbish. He doesn’t deserve to be in any school in Alberta, ”said NDP education critic Sarah Hoffman.

“No school division is testing social studies or science. That’s a pretty big red flag. “

In a statement, Education Minister Adriana LaGrange’s press secretary Nicole Sparrow said: “The draft K-6 curriculum is just that: a draft.”

“Alberta Education is committed to listening and working with parents, educational partners, and Albertans to make improvements to the draft curriculum. That is why we support and improve opportunities for participation. “

“Throughout the year-long review process, public curriculum sessions are held virtually every month and in-person sessions will begin late this fall.

“Feedback received from these engagements, as well as the online public survey, will be critical prior to finalizing the content and will also inform the development of future ratings.”