“Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself.”
—John Dewey, Philosopher, Psychologist, Educational Reformer
With more than 30 years in teaching and educational leadership, I have come to know that curriculum is far more than words on a page, in a book or on a screen. It is a living ecosystem, shaped by the changing realities of students’ lives, families, classrooms, schools and communities and the emerging changes each day in the wider world.
The reflections that follow, first shared at the Association’s Curriculum Symposium in the spring of 2025, highlight key tensions on the contested terrain of curriculum and assessment in Alberta classrooms.
Knowledge versus self-realization: Is it what you cover or what you discover?
Over a century ago, the philosopher John Dewey asked whether schooling should focus on covering content or helping learners discover meaning. Alberta’s curriculum has long leaned toward Dewey’s vision, emphasizing competencies and big ideas. In recent years, however, our system has shifted under the influence of accountability demands and cultivated a “back-to-the-basics” approach that values lists of facts, itemized assessments and tidy benchmarks, as seen in Alberta’s unpopular K–3 literacy and numeracy tests.
These methods produce measurable outcomes but risk narrowing curriculum, reducing students to fact-regurgitators and preparing them for an outdated reality. In contrast, an inquiry-driven approach begins with students’ questions and lived experiences. It echoes UNESCO’s four pillars of education—learning to know, learning to do, learning to live together and learning to be—and places trust in teachers’ professional judgment over standardized testing.
The data dilemma: accountability or responsibility?
School officials are increasingly asked to prove success with narrow measures and digital assessments, leading to rising challenges for teachers under expanding accountability pressures.
Accountability (the ability to count) yields standardized provincial testing, comparative charts and neat targets that satisfy bureaucratic demands. Responsibility (the ability to respond) requires professionals who meet learners where they are with wisdom, allowing for the teachable moment and nurturing much deeper intellectual, social and emotional growth over time. We need to measure what matters, not just what is easy to measure.
The shadow of polarization and privatization
Curriculum debates do not exist in isolation. In Alberta, they have become entangled with broader culture wars that intensified during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Disputes now include which histories to highlight in new curriculum, how climate and social justice are to be contested and minimized, or whether privatization should be framed over the public good.
In this polarized era, what students need most is the ability to think critically, engage respectfully and work across differences.
Climate change and science in curriculum
Alberta schools are increasingly disrupted by wildfires, floods, heatwaves, evacuations and air-quality crises. Climate literacy can no longer be optional: it must be woven across all programs of study. This means combining systems-thinking science with local lived examples of adaptation, civic engagement (and emotional supports) so that students can move beyond fear and paralysis toward informed, collective action on climate change.
Artificial intelligence and the future of humanity
If machines can deliver content and simulate dialogue, schools must emphasize what artificial intelligence (AI) cannot replicate: creativity, empathy and the artistry of human relationships. The most enduring skills—creativity, collaboration, critical thinking, fine motor abilities and social–emotional intelligence—will remain uniquely human and be bottlenecks to the coming displacement of AI. Our assessment must equally evolve in a world saturated with AI at every turn, shifting from multiple-choice testing to performance tasks, portfolios of original work and collaborative inquiries that mirror real-world problem solving.
Keeping education human
The curriculum and assessment debates before us are not simply about content, testing or policy. They are about the kind of future we want to build for Alberta and the kind of citizens we hope to nurture through our public schools. Our task must be to keep education a highly relational and human endeavour. Will students be asked only to memorize, or will they be empowered to question and create? Will we settle for what is easy to measure, or will we value what is essential for human flourishing in a fourth industrial revolution?
Assessment is not a spreadsheet— it's a conversation.
—Joe Bower (1978-2016)
Read more about the declaration on curriculum by visiting
https://abteach.cc/Curriculum-Assessment.
Read more about the declaration on assessment by visiting
https://abteach.cc/Curriculum-Assessment.
