What Alberta’s teachers believe about curriculum and curriculum reform
(a document from the Alberta Teacher's Association)
I highlighted my favorite points:
We believe that curriculum is about what should be learned
Currently, Alberta is engaged in a process that will identify what knowledge, skills and attitudes students will need to master to lead successful lives after they leave school. This is a complex process that ultimately will lead to the development of new programs of study setting out requirements in each
subject area and grade level.
We believe that curriculum is not about how a particular curriculum outcome should be taught
Instruction is different from curriculum. Much of the current controversy dominating the headlines
relates not to curriculum but instruction. Instruction, or how a curriculum outcome should be taught, is best left to the professional judgement of individual teachers who are best positioned to determine what strategies and approaches will work best for the students they will teach. This will not be the same for every child or in every classroom or in every school or community.
We believe that curriculum belongs to and must be understood and supported by Albertans
Schools are at the heart of Alberta communities and we must strive to develop a consensus about what
the broad outcomes of education should be. It is important that curriculum reform has social licence and that diverse views are heard, respected and, where appropriate, reflected. The best way of building support among Albertans is to engage them in a real, meaningful and ongoing dialogue about what they want their children to learn.
We believe that on matters of designing programs of study, teachers must take the leading role
As curriculum reform moves toward the design of programs of study, practical questions will emerge
about sequencing, cross-subject integration, and the definition of specific learning objectives. Teachers
possess relevant professional preparation and practical expertise to do this work and, ultimately, will have to implement the programs. It follows that they should play the leading role in this latter part of the process.
We believe that business has a legitimate contribution to make, but that curriculum must address much more than short-term economic objectives
Some efforts are being made to involve businesses in curriculum prototyping. This is appropriate as
clearly one of the objectives of education is to prepare students for the world of work. But this is not the sole objective—education is also about preparing students to live meaningful, healthy, active and
engaged lives in a democratic society. Therefore, consultation should also involve a broad cross section of civil society including labour, arts, cultural, academic, ethnic and First Nations groups. Furthermore, corporations should not be allowed to influence curriculum reform in ways that would inappropriately
advance their immediate commercial interests.
We believe that curriculum should allow room for inclusion, local innovation and adaptation
To provide teachers with opportunities to personalize instruction and further develop students’ creativity, communication, collaboration and critical thinking, it is necessary for the curriculum to focus more deeply on a smaller number of curriculum objectives. Curriculum needs to emphasize problem-solving, rather than just content, and provide room to introduce locally relevant learning outcomes. Facilitating the inclusion of students with special learning needs should also be an objective of curriculum design.
We believe that curriculum should reflect the outcomes of Inspiring Education
From the outset, the Association was deeply involved in Minister Hancock’s Inspiring Education initiative and supports the broad recommendations that emerged from that process. Building curriculum around the student as an engaged thinker, as an ethical citizen and as possessing an entrepreneurial spirit is a vision with great promise.
We believe that technology is a tool that can be used to support instruction
Digital technology can be used by teachers and students to enhance learning, but the use of technology is ultimately a means to learning and should not be regarded and an end in itself. Technology is not a
panacea, nor should technology be regarded as a substitute for real-life experiences. As curriculum design evolves toward the development of programs of study, we must ensure that students and teachers have equitable access to appropriate technology but also guard against firms with a vested interest in selling technology exercising undue influence.
We believe that assessment and evaluation must be consistent with the curriculum
Evaluation and assessment, is first and foremost, the responsibility of the classroom teacher.
It is an integral part of teaching and must directly reflect and reinforce student learning. It is important
that assessment and evaluation engage a broad range of learning processes and skills as well as testing
content. Standardized testing in particular should be limited and focused on providing information that
can inform teaching practice.
We believe that curriculum implementation must be properly supported
Having a high quality curriculum is necessary but not sufficient to create a high performing education
system that can help every child to achieve his or her full potential. It is as important to ensure that the
learning and teaching are appropriately supported and resourced. New programs of study must be
implemented in a structured process to insure that teachers have access to suitable learning resources,
adequate preparation time and targeted professional development to support new approaches.
Furthermore, rolling out changes in the programs of study must take place at a measured pace and only as the necessary supports are put into place.
We believe that it is the responsibility of teachers to lead students to mastery of the curriculum and it is the responsibility of government and school boards to support teachers in their efforts to do so.
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