In 2013, when I first heard about the Alberta government’s plan to review and overhaul the Kindergarten through Grade 12 curriculum I was excited about the prospect.
I still am. No matter what profession a person is in, after a certain length of time it is a good thing to take a step back, evaluate what you are doing and see how you can improve upon it.
That is exactly what Alberta Education is doing here. And in my opinion it is something that is long overdue. From my understanding the last time made any substantial change to the province’s curriculum was in 2001.
That being said, I understand people’s trepidation. Over the last few years, as part of my job, I have had the opportunity to visit a number of classrooms and often they don’t bear any resemblance to what I remember.
For example, about four years ago, I visited a Grade 6 classroom where there wasn’t a book to be seen. I mean nothing — no textbooks, novels, or exercise books. Everything was done on some sort of device, whether it be a phone, computer, tablet or something else I don’t even know the name of.
For someone who believes technology peaked at frozen pizza, it is hard for me to comprehend how students are able to function, let alone learn without pen and paper. Yet when you talk to the students it is obvious they are learning the material.
For us older folks out there, we have to remind ourselves that our own educations were far from perfect.
Last week, I was reminded about a missing element in my education after I received a phone call from a reader that said I I had misidentified the grain a Barrhead Elementary School (BES) student in a picture we published on the cover of our Sept 26. I said it was wheat stalk, when in fact was actually oats.
My apologies, but perhaps I would have noticed my error if my education had included, a course on agriculture similar to County of Barrhead sponsored Gate to Plate program.
This is despite the fact that I grew up in an agriculture community that in many ways mirrors this one, Creston, B.C.
However, through curriculum redesign the Gate to Plate program can be expanded from just a one-day field trip to an actual course. Understanding about where our food comes from is important and what better way to learn that information is there than school?
Or perhaps our school division could create its own locally developed course. Just a thought.
