Long-awaited Changes Coming to Alberta Classrooms

It takes, on average, twelve years to develop and implement new curriculum for students in a K-12 school system.

Current Alberta curriculum documents cover a span of 26 years (from 1982-2006) across six subject areas-- arts and language arts, math, social studies, science, and wellness.

That means that in at least one subject area, decisions made about what students would be taught began more than 45 years ago, in the early 1970s. 

According to Sharon Friesen, the lack of a common design resulting from curriculum developed and implemented over the years needs to be addressed.

The vice dean in the Werklund School of Education says the current curriculum is old, outdated, and desperately in need of a revamp. And she’s extremely pleased that Alberta Education is about to take action to change that.

Friesen was invited to Edmonton earlier this month to be on hand when The Honourable David Eggen, Alberta Minister of Education, officially announced that, starting this fall, the government would begin the process of developing new curriculum in the six key subject areas.

“Knowledge about the way we in which teach and students learn is a constantly evolving process. It’s never static,” says Friesen, who has worked alongside the ministry for many years providing information and insight on educational research gathered at the post-secondary level. 

Friesen says Alberta Education has been working on the important issue of addressing the changes to how and what students need to learn for almost a decade, and that the current structure for a new curriculum flows naturally from a strong level of citizen engagement.  “This new curriculum is in direct response to what the government has heard the people of Alberta want for their children for quite a few years now, and I’m pleased to see that the new NDP government has taken the first important step to making curriculum reform a reality.”

Beginning in the fall, Alberta Education will begin developing the new curriculum and will again be asking for input.  Albertans will be invited to participate in face-to-face meetings and through an online survey.

The new curriculum will be introduced in phases, beginning with Kindergarten to Grade 4 (late 2018), followed by Grades 5 to 8 (one year later, in late 2019).  High school curriculum will be developed in phases from 2020 to 2022.

Friesen says the time is right to bring about these changes in Alberta.  “I look forward to seeing a number of directional documents, such as the Ministerial Order on Student Learning, Inclusive Education Policy and the Expression of Reconciliation for the Legacy of the Indian Residential School System being incorporated into the provincial curriculum.”