Welcome to the 2017 election

Let’s start with “Why am I seeking re-election”?

Whether it is a re-election or a first time election , I hope voters are asking every candidate this question.

For me the answer is not a simple one-line answer.  And through this and future blogs I will answer this question. I have had the honor of being a Trustee for the Red Deer Public School District for 14 years. Every year has had different challenges and achievements. But each has had the common thread for me in doing what is best for students, our district and our community.

 The first reason on why I am seeking re-election is because last term the province was deep into Inspiring Education. This was many, many months of consultations and input with education stakeholders. A huge amount of resources was used to achieve the final recommendation along with a new Education Act (to replace the current School Act). Most recommendations were great and our board was looking forward to the new Act being approved at the Legislature. A new government was elected two years ago and the new Minister of Education wanted to take a closer look at the new Act and began his own consultations to gather input. Now we are undergoing curriculum redesign and the new Education Act is no more.

“ Our Kindergarten to Grade 12 (K–12) provincial curriculum, also known as programs of study, is defined as “what” students are expected to know, understand, and be able to do in each subject and grade. While Alberta Education determines “what” students need to learn in provincial curriculum, teachers use their professional judgement to determine “how” students achieve the learning outcomes in the provincial curriculum.

Feedback from the surveys will help inform the development of K–12 provincial curriculum. This feedback, along with a review of current curriculum, up-to-date research, and a look at what other education systems are doing will help us in this work

Previously, Alberta's curriculum was developed one subject at a time and over different time periods, so there is no common design. To assist teachers in their planning, our work to update curriculum will include changes to design, content and the processes used to develop curriculum

Moving forward, Alberta is developing new provincial curriculum with common principles and standards that guide what will be included in future curriculum. This includes a common design for how curriculum will look with a focus on competencies, literacy and numeracy grounded in subject content (learning outcomes)” {1} From the Alberta Education website https://education.alberta.ca/curriculum-development/what-is-curriculum/?searchMode=3

Our students have changed, our society has changed and our outcomes have changed. So why wouldn’t we change how and what we teach to our kids? Since I have been part of this consultation process for 7+ years with two different governments , I am excited to be part of the  final implementation of the new curriculum to make sure it is best for our students.