Comments on the social studies curriculum
@carissa.n.h
I have serious concerns about the amount of material to be covered in Grade 5. I also wonder where current events are supposed to go?
@mtn_trails_r_calling
It’s just as awful as the draft before.
Ron Strate
Taking Gr 7 info and shoving it down onto Gr 4 is not right. Gr 7 had a tough enough time learning it, yet we’re going to make Gr 4 try and remember it? Brutal. Also, the complete change of the Gr 8 is not right. It was the best grade for SS. Now it’s all about political parties???? Nope. I hope someone will shake their head and realize not everything needs to be changed.
Elizabeth Grill
These timelines are always deliberate. Why would teachers spend their Easter break giving feedback to a government that couldn’t care less what they think?
FOR THE RECORD
Instead of a program that inspires hope and possibility for engaging the pressing issues of our world, this draft is an exhausting and unwieldy roadmap to a better version of yesterday.
– An open letter commenting on a new draft social studies curriculum. The letter was published by members of the curriculum specialist group that Alberta Education invited to contribute to the curriculum.
On the ATA’s Stop the Excuses campaign
DanicaPea
Other provinces are catching up on teacher salary. Also, pay doesn’t make up for the fact that demands are increasing, with less supports, more complex classrooms, etc. Apparently according to recent data, the average time a teacher stays teaching in Alberta is seven years. Good teachers, teachers who want to make a difference, who care about their kids and the state of education, are burnt out and exhausted. When the expectations are increasing, but pay is not, that’s not a solid argument.
Stephen S Michaud
I’m so glad I only have one child left in secondary and only for this year and next. The whole education system has gotten so bad!
On central table bargaining
Tes O’ Seachnasigh
If we can make a strong showing (like 65 per cent or more) at meetings and demand better, we are more likely to be taken seriously. No one wants a strike, but if we aren’t willing to go there and the province knows it, we’ll get more zeros, and not the ones that enhance our paycheques. So, the message is “show up and bring five friends.”
Letters to the editor: We welcome letters to the editor. Please limit your submission to 300 words. Only letters bearing a first and last name, address and daytime telephone number will be considered for publication. Teachers are also asked to indicate where and what they teach. All letters are subject to editing for length, clarity, punctuation, spelling and grammar. Email managing editor Cory Hare: cory.hare@ata.ab.ca.
