What students are learning in junior high is the next in line for an update by the Alberta government.
With changes to the elementary curriculum now rolled out, Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides says it’s the logical next step.
“We’ve been spending the past couple of years updating the elementary curriculum ‘K to 6’. Most of that work is done now so we can turn our attention to the junior high curriculum,” Nicolaides told Global News.
The province is looking at updating mathematics and social studies for grades 7 to 9, physical education and wellness for grades 7 to 10, and tweaking the Career and Life Management program.
The education minister says engagement has already started amongst teachers, education staff and other stakeholders.
According to the province, the restructuring to the junior high curriculum will include content for career education, financial literacy, basic life skills and home maintenance pending feedback from their consultations.
He believes the restructuring will allow students to explore career options sooner.
“For junior high, we’re looking at physical education and wellness as one of the priority subjects to start updating. That’s where a lot of important conversations will happen about financial literacy and other life skills that are critical to long-term student success, so we want to get the ball rolling on that,” Nicolaides said.
But the president of the Alberta Teachers’ Association raises several concerns, saying it could set kids back.
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To start, Jason Schilling says students currently going through the elementary school curriculum are struggling.
“Teachers identified that earlier in the process but changes were never made to the curriculum,” Schilling explained. “Kids are struggling with those concepts. Something that was traditionally taught in grade 7 to 8 is now being taught in Grade 5. It’s not age-appropriate.”
The province says they’ll work with the Alberta Teachers’ Association and other education bodies to recruit staff and look over the draft. Schilling questions whether recommendations they make would be considered, because he says recommendations made during consultations for the elementary school curriculum weren’t addressed.
He adds that teachers consulted in this current round are required to sign a non-disclosure agreement.
“Teachers aren’t able to, if they are involved in the process, talk openly about what the process was like and what their concerns were, and if it was reflected in the draft,” Schilling said.
Nicolaides says they’re taking the feedback into consideration during this current draft process.
“There’s no decisions that have been made. We want to get what the different perspectives. But recognizing that the earlier we can talk to students about some of the career opportunities that exist, the better position they’ll be in to make an informed decision,” he said.
The Ministry of Education hopes the draft will be completed and approved by Spring 2025. If approved, some schools would have the option to pilot the draft junior high and career education curriculum and provide feedback.
Once that’s complete, the province could implement the changes sometime in 2026.
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