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The word “unteachable” has been used to describe the draft K-6 Alberta curriculum. Thousands of parents, teachers, and scholars are raising concerns about plagiarism, factual errors, developmental inappropriateness, and historical and ideological bias.
We speak against this curriculum as PhD students from the University of Alberta’s Faculty of Education, who prepare preservice teachers while conducting educational research. Collectively, we have over four decades of teaching experience in K-12 and higher education.
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Jason Kenney, premier of Alberta, meets with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on May 2, 2019. File photo by Andrew Meade
Whether it’s embracing open-pit coal mining or doubling down on the oil and gas industry, Jason Kenney’s UCP government has made a habit of looking to the past for guidance and inspiration. But rarely has it been more explicit in its back-to-the-future approach to governing than with its new proposed K-6 curriculum, which takes the government’s atavistic approach to a whole different level.
Take, for example, the sycophantic mention of Kenney’s own grandfather in the section on what Grade 6 students should learn in music class. Mart Kenney’s When I Get Back to Calgary is specifically cited alongside Glenn Miller’s In The Mood as examples of the role of big band ensembles giving jazz music “a larger sound.”