Alberta’s new elementary school social studies curriculum announced in spring will be piloted at schools across the province this fall.
The Alberta government announced on Friday that over 1,700 teachers have signed up to pilot the K-6 social studies curriculum released in Apr. 2024. The pilot will begin in the 2024-25 school year and occur across 429 schools.
Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides told True North that he is very pleased with the number of schools and teachers piloting the draft social studies curriculum.
“As the piloting progresses, I am looking forward to hearing from school leaders and teachers as we continue our work to build a comprehensive curriculum that builds students’ critical thinking, problem-solving, and decision-making skills and inspires a passion for learning prior to implementation for the 2025-26 school year,” said Nicolaides.
The curriculum was developed after nine months of consultation with Albertans, education partners, teachers, and parents, said the Alberta government in its press release.
Alberta’s 2024 budget provided $34 million to support curriculum piloting and implementation in the upcoming school year.
The curriculum was adjusted to develop students’ critical thinking, research, and analytical skills. The curriculum also aims to build on the concept of active citizenship.
The proposed curriculum is available online.
An example question for a Kindergarten class from the curriculum is, “How can people work together in groups?
Each question is accompanied with a learning outcome, broken down further into three sections: knowledge, understanding, and skills & procedure.
The same guiding question for Grade 6 students is, “In what ways does civic participation support democratic society?”
The Alberta government said the new curriculum aims to “address feedback on developmental appropriateness and load.”
Additionally, the new curriculum focuses on diversity across Canada by teaching students about First Nations, Métis, Inuit and Francophone histories.
“We look forward to piloting the new social studies curriculum that stays away from ideology and strengthens the opportunities for students to develop critical thinking skills, including research and analytical skills, throughout the curriculum,” said the superintendent of the Fort Vermilion School Division, Mike McMann.
The provincial government is providing teachers with various resources to pilot the new curriculum, such as teacher release days to support planning, resources, professional learning opportunities, and the opportunity to provide feedback.
After receiving feedback from the teachers participating in the piloting, the Alberta government plans to introduce the K-6 social studies curriculum in Sept. 2025.
The 62 school authorities participating in the pilot consist of 31 public schools, nine separate schools, three public charters, 16 independent schools, two francophones, and one First Nations school.
