HomeMy WebLinkAboutAlberta set to road test new K-4 school.curriculum, renews focus on fundamentals - Globe & Mail - 10/10/2018 - Globe & Mail - 10/10/201810/11/2018 Alberta set to road test new K-4 school curriculum, renews focus on fundamentals - The Globe and Mail
Alberta set to road test new K-4 school curriculum,
renews focus on fundamentals
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Alberta is set to try out its new curriculum for young students and Education
Minister David Eggen says it will mesh fundamental skills with broader social
development.
"We want to make sure that this new curriculum is actually focusing more laserlike
on basic but fundamental foundational skills," Eggen said Wednesday.
"That means reading, writing, communication (and) computational thinking.
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"But it also means adding extra emphasis around mental-health issues, around
confidence, around being able to express yourself ... around safety and personal
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10/11/2018 Alberta set to road test new K-4 school curriculum, renews focus on fundamentals - The Globe and Mail
In English, for example, the focus remains on reading and writing, but also on
speaking and listening.
In math, there will be an emphasis on rote work, such as multiplication tables, along
with their wider applications, such as rudimentary money basics.
There will be computational thinking concepts to help students become better
problem -solvers.
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10/11/2018 Alberta set to road test new K-4 school curriculum, renews focus on fundamentals - The Globe and Mail
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The issue of consent will be discussed in Grades 2, 3 and 4.
"All of us in 2018 have a responsibility to make sure we build that foundational
knowledge of respect of each other, and respect in terms of personal space and
touching," said Eggen.
"You have to teach that at an early age."
Puberty will start to be discussed in Grade 4, as is done currently.
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There are no references to LGBTQ issues at the lower grade levels, but students will
discuss respect and understanding.
Indigenous culture will be woven through subjects— from learning about Aboriginal
art forms to studying First Nations viewpoints on historical events in social studies
class.
Francophone perspectives will also be incorporated.
Greg Jeffery, head of the Alberta Teachers' Association, said more than 300 of the
union's members have worked on the changes, and teachers will be able to handle
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10/11/2018 Alberta set to road test new K-4 school curriculum, renews focus on fundamentals - The Globe and Mail
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W tion coming in the spring, Opposition United Conservative Leader Jason
Kenney said he will put the revamp in the "shredder" if it strays too far from
learning fundamentals.
The party said in a statement that it is still reviewing the new K-4 curriculum and is
concerned about how it was put together.
"The curriculum rewrite has been shrouded in secrecy with (Eggen) refusing to tell
Albertans which professors and special interest groups have been invited to the
curriculum rewrite table," said caucus spokeswoman Christine Myatt.
"The public has a right to know which external stakeholders are helping to write
this curriculum."
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10/11/2018 Alberta set to road test new K-4 school curriculum, renews focus on fundamentals - The Globe and Mail
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