Time to ditch Shakespeare, curriculum survey says
Out, damned Bard.
A survey of more than 25,000 Albertans reviewing the K-12 school curriculum found “there exists a strong desire for the removal of Shakespeare as a required author.”
Respondents also questioned the need to keep cursive writing in the curriculum, and want students to be taught more about the environment and climate change.
“Albertans certainly agree that this work on curriculum is long overdue, and they want to play an active role in the process,” Education Minister David Eggen said at Edmonton’s Westmount Junior High School on Thursday.
In the two-part survey posted online last October, respondents said they wanted an increased focus on basic math and literacy skills, more emphasis on financial literacy in earlier grades, and better preparation for careers and college and university.
Eggen said people also wanted fewer calculators in elementary school classes.
Last year, Eggen unveiled the most ambitious and wide-reaching K-12 school curriculum review yet proposed in Alberta. All subjects in all grades will be reviewed and rewritten simultaneously in both English and French over six years in an attempt to improve consistency and co-ordination across all topics.
The first of many public consultations began in October, when a two-part survey was posted online.
The first part posed 11 statements about the value of diversity, inclusion, skills and connections to careers in K-12 education, and asked respondents whether they agree or disagree. For example: “Kindergarten to Grade 12 curriculum should reflect the diversity of Alberta’s population.”
Albertans strongly supported the concepts of students being accountable for their actions, demonstrating integrity and respect, and developing imagination and curiosity, with more than 94 per cent agreeing with those priorities.
There was less support for a curriculum that reflected diversity, including First Nations, Métis and Inuit content, and more francophone perspectives.
The government heard from 32,391 people in Part 1, including 47 per cent who are parents or guardians, and 31 per cent who are teachers.
The second part of the survey, which was nearly 200 pages in document form, covered each subject area in the current curriculum by grade level. It asked which of the current objectives need more or less emphasis in classroom lessons, whether the topics are covered from adequate cultural perspectives, and how important it is that subjects are covered in separate courses. There were 25,615 people who responded to the detailed questions. Of those, 65 per cent said they were not teachers.
Some of the results from Part 2 were contradictory. Although people said they wanted to keep many existing curricular goals, they also wrote that the curriculum has too much content and should be pared back.
Respondents also frowned upon the idea of combining drama, music and art into fine arts classes at the elementary school level.
In health and wellness, respondents wanted more emphasis on mental health and the social and emotional well-being of students.
Nearly 400 volunteers in provincial curriculum working groups are now tasked with examining what order, and how much material on each topic, belongs at each grade level.
Eggen has said the survey is one of many opportunities the public will have during the next six years to give input.
A revised sex education curriculum — which prompted substantial backlash in Ontario — should be rooted in safety and public health concerns, Eggen said.