Professional Curriculum Analysis and Critique of Alberta Education’s 2021 Draft K–6 Curriculum

Overview

This is a detailed review of the 2021 draft K–6 curriculum. The teachers who participated in this analysis include elementary generalists, subject specialists, diversity specialists and school and system leaders from across Alberta. 

The criteria for this curriculum analysis and critique were based on the vision, guidelines and considerations for curriculum development as outlined in Alberta Education’s “Guiding Framework for the Design and Development of K-12 Provincial Curriculum” (Alberta 2020b). These criteria were used to develop the survey questions, the specialist council written submission template and the discussion questions for the Curriculum Circle meeting that included 120 teacher participants. In total, more than 6,500 teachers participated in these data collection activities.

Research methods

Online Survey 

The online survey questions included Likert-scale questions based on the Alberta Education curriculum guidelines and open-ended questions about the draft curriculum for which teachers provided their comments. The survey was field tested with members of the Curriculum Circle and reviewed by two university professors with expertise in survey methodology. The online survey was posted on the Alberta Teachers’ Association website and open from March 29, 2021, to May 15, 2021.

Over this period, 6,028 individuals responded to the survey, of which 98.9 per cent indicated that they had reviewed the Ministerial Order on Student Learning and the draft curriculum. Qualitative data was analyzed to identify key themes, and the individual comments were analyzed and tabulated according to these themes. Themes that less than 5 percent of the respondents commented on have not been reported in the study. 

Specialist Council Written Submissions 

ATA specialist councils were invited to review the draft curriculum and prepare a written submission. Specialist councils are voluntary professional development groups that foster the professional development of teachers interested in a common curriculum or specialty area and provide opportunities for teachers to network and share information. Each specialist council has an elected, volunteer executive board that represents its members and organizes professional development activities. Specialist councils, whose members would be implementing the elementary draft curriculum, were invited to review the curriculum using a template of guiding questions. Eight specialist councils returned a written submission by the deadline of May 15, 2021.

Curriculum Circle 

Thirteen specialist councils were invited to nominate up to 12 teachers with expertise and experience in elementary education for the one-day Curriculum Circle meeting. From the list of nominations, 130 teachers were selected, based on grade level taught, school size and geographic representation. They were then sent an invitation to attend the Curriculum Circle meeting.

Fourteen days in advance of the meeting, the 120 delegates who ultimately registered received a draft agenda and a printed copy of the Technical Briefing: Draft K–6 Curriculum. The discussion templates for the meeting were also posted in advance on the registration website. Originally, the Curriculum Circle was planned for May 15, but due to health restrictions that forced the closure of schools, the online meeting was postponed until May 31. Each delegate was assigned to a grade-level group for the first discussion period and a subject specialist group for the second discussion period. Recognizing the limitations of an online meeting, and to maximize participation, each group had no more than 15 participants and was supported by an assigned teacher facilitator and a group reporter. The groups were provided with a discussion template containing questions to guide their review. The recorder’s notes were projected, in real time, on screen so all participants could confirm what was being recorded. Following the meeting, group notes were immediately saved to the secure, private meeting website.

Limitations

While the size of the survey sample, at 6,028 participants, is more than adequate for identifying common themes and key findings, the respondents in the open survey were self-selected. To triangulate the findings of the open survey, a survey question gauging Albertans’ concerns with the draft curriculum was included in an Environics Research survey of a random stratified sample of 900 Albertans between April 19 and May 1, 2021. The results of this survey indicate that only 17 per cent of Albertans agree that the draft curriculum will provide students with the knowledge and skills they need for success. The results of this random stratified survey are deemed to be accurate plus or minus 3.3 per cent, 19 times out of 20 (Alberta Teachers’ Association 2021). The results of the random survey question were almost identical to the draft curriculum open survey results in this report, thus indicating the certainty that the results of this study are representative of all Alberta teachers.

The curriculum survey participants were, in terms of demographics, also highly representative of Alberta’s teaching population.

Collaborators

• Philip McRae, PhD
• Jacquie Skytt, Former Assistant Executive Secretary, ATA
• Mark Swanson, PhD