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A group representing 6,500 Edmonton public school teachers is asking future trustees to publicly oppose the current draft of the K-6 curriculum being tested in Alberta, and nearly three-quarters of the candidates on the ballot election this month have made the commitment.
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Alberta Teachers Association (ATA) Edmonton Public Local has asked trustee candidates to stand for election to sign a pledge Making seven promises, including to “publicly oppose any piloting or implementation of the new draft K-6 curriculum.”
“These new trustees must remember that they are also members of our community, and that they have a moral responsibility to speak out and speak out against a curriculum that we essentially believe will put our students and the children of the people they represent in danger, ”Heather Quinn, president of Edmonton Public Teacher Local 37, said in an interview Friday.
The vast majority of Alberta school boards have refused to test the draft curriculum released by the government in early 2021. The social studies curriculum in particular has faced strong criticism, including the fact that it does not have a logical sequence, is not developmentally appropriate, and does not reflect diversity.
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There have been complaints of plagiarism.. The Métis Nation of Alberta has asked for a rewrite and the Six First Nations Confederation of the Treaty I reject it.
Last week, the ATA released a report including comments from 6,500 teachers who rated the draft as fundamentally flawed and suggested that it does not meet Alberta’s educational standards.
Some Alberta school boards have agreed to test some of what is proposed, but not all.
In late September, Nicole Sparrow, press secretary for Education Minister Adriana Lagrange, said 380 teachers are currently testing the content of the draft curriculum “and will be able to provide valuable feedback in the classroom.”
The government has repeatedly said that roughly 100 teachers from across the province were included in a working group to help draw up the draft, and that it was created by subject matter experts.
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The pledge continues with the promise that signatories will actively weave Truth and Reconciliation Commission calls in classrooms, promote anti-racism education, support the student’s right to join a gay-straight alliance at school. Without their parents being notified, they will advocate for increased funding, ask the government to fully fund specialized supports for disabled students, and insist that tax dollars be used solely to support the public school system.
By Friday afternoon, 28 of the 40 candidates running for public school administrator in one of the nine districts in Edmonton have signed.
Quinn said the Local decided to create engagement, rather than use the standard practice of sending questionnaires to candidates, as a way to try to get more direct responses.
“There are many who are very good at talking about the questions, and they don’t really answer the questions completely,” he said.
“So we think, what if we create the ideals that we think encompass the values of education that we think are important, and we summarize them, we publish them, then they can essentially say yes or no, and sign their name.”
– With files from Lisa Johnson
Reference-edmontonjournal.com