By Shaun Penner

Education Minister defends curriculum changes as election nears

Feb 21, 2019 | 4:30 AM

With a provincial election due this spring, the Alberta NDP government is continuing to try and make changes to the education curriculum despite the threat of Jason Kenney “scrapping” it, should he and the UCP take over this spring.

“We saw Jason Kenney talking about how he was going to take this whole process and throw it through the shredder, which I found offensive,” said Education Minister David Eggen, in an interview with EverythingGP. “Any suggestion that you might use this for political purposes, I just don’t like that, and I don’t think Albertans do either.”

Eggen was responding to remarks made by the opposition leader in a speech on Saturday, where Kenney said he would “stop the NDP’s ideological rewrite of the school curriculum”, which Kenney later backed down from the following day. Eggen re-iterated that he and the NDP government will continue to try and make changes to the province’s curriculum regardless of what lies ahead.

The MLA for Edmonton-Calder explained that the NDP government is in year two of six in the process of changing the current curriculum, with a draft plan already finalized for kindergarten to grade four and a pilot program set to roll out in the fall.

Eggen notes one of the biggest changes he and the NDP are trying to implement focuses around mathematics and language arts, as well as critical thinking skills. He also wants to see the skills learned by students being transferred throughout each subject. An example Eggen mentioned was with financial literacy.

Plan Ahead

Why Would You Pre-Plan Your Funeral?

Apr 03, 2024

Dying away from home

What Happens if You Die Away From Home?

Mar 04, 2024

Flag Retiring Ceremony

What Do You Do With Worn-Out Flags?

Feb 01, 2024

“We have that as a thread that goes through right from kindergarten to grade 12, learning about money competency and managing your resources. We can have that residing in mathematics, science, social studies and other life skills.”

Another change would be putting a heavier focus on technology and trying to stay ahead of the curve when it comes to the rapidly changing world of I.T. Eggen explained that teaching computing skills from an early age can help the next generation take control of technology instead of the other way around.

“We heard pretty loud and clear that computer coding and mastery of technology is an essential for living in the 21st century. So, we are building computational thinking into the curriculum right from kindergarten,” said Eggen. “This is a way to not only take control of technology, but to take control of your own life too.”

The Education Minister also explained that he has been hearing all too often from teachers that the curriculum is way out of date, and notes that an upgrade is much needed. The current curriculum is anywhere from 8 to 30 years-old.

“We had science curriculum that wasn’t even recognizing new elements that were discovered on the periodic table, for example,” says Eggen. “People know it’s way past due to upgrade the curriculum.”

He also talked about how teachers would be brought up to speed on the changes they would implement, noting that it would done digitally with the goal of the training to be interactive, to allow educators to share their ideas on the new curriculum, as well as best practices.

For more information, check out the Provincial Government’s Education Department website.

A provincial election must be called between March 1 and May 31 this year. Premier Rachel Notley has called a throne speech for March 18, where it is expected that the NDP government will call an election.