Jasperites are writing to their elected officials to express their dissatisfaction with the Alberta government’s proposed draft K-6 school curriculum.

When Cristin Murphy first saw the newly released draft in early April, she was, like many of her friends and colleagues, surprised at not only what was included in the early education outcomes, but what was missing. 

“I was actually pretty shocked,” she said. “And the more I read, the worse it got.”   

The new curriculum, Murphy said, is age and grade-inappropriate. It lacks skill development. Learning outcomes lean heavily towards ideologue and religion, while leaving huge gaps in indigenous teachings. Rote memorization is in. Critical thinking is out. 

“A huge piece for me was the lack of real understanding of child development,” Murphy said. “We want students to be able to critically analyze and be able to figure out for themselves what their own views are what and their opinions are.”

After analyzing the draft, Murphy wrote to her MLA. She didn’t hear back from Martin Long directly, but instead received an auto-reply from his office which asked if she was an actual constituent of West Yellowhead. 

“There was nothing [in the reply] on where they would go with it. That was disappointing.” 

Not only is she a voter in this riding, Murphy is an Albertan with a long lineage of educators in her family. She grew up in Edmonton as the daughter of a school principal, received her Bachelor of Education Elementary from the University of Alberta, added a Waldorf Early Childhood Education diploma to her credentials and has taught in both Jasper and Hinton. Because of the pandemic, for the past year Murphy has had her own children in homeschool but she nevertheless feels eminently qualified to speak to what educators will be asked to teach in classrooms. If this draft is any indication of what ultimately gets rolled out, people will leave this province, she said.

“If this happens people won’t put up with it,” she said. “The government says this is being well-received. Where? By who?”

Certainly not by the province’s largest school board, the Calgary Board of Education. Nor by the Edmonton Public or Edmonton Catholic school boards. All three joined a growing list of boards in rejecting the draft, and more recently, the Conseil Scolaire Centre-Nord—the school board which governs Jasper’s École Desrochers—also announced it will not be piloting new curriculum.

The absence of Francophone perspectives and opportunities to emphasize the diversity of La Francophonie Alberta led to the April 12 decision, the board announced.  

Grande Yellowhead Public School Division trustee Dale Karpluk said the board has yet to take a position on the draft curriculum, but this issue has prompted more feedback from parents than any other topic since she was elected in 2017. She said all of the discussions so far have expressed concern with the proposed curriculum. She plans to bring the concerns to the April 21 board meeting. That meeting (10 a.m.) is public and viewable on Zoom.

“I appreciate people reaching out, that’s why I’m here,” she said.

Murphy is curious as to where GYPSD will stand. “I’m anxious to know what the position is in Grande Yellowhead,” she said. “Some of the divisions have really voiced their genuine feelings of the quality of the curriculum, and I think that’s pretty brave.”

Murphy has been trying to help other Jasperites have their own voices heard. On April 14 she was rounding up signatures for a petition which asks the legislative assembly of Alberta to withdraw the curriculum and create a new draft, one which consults experts and educators (the current draft purports to have consulted teachers, but has been criticized for making those educators sign a non-disclosure agreement).  

One of those who signed was Jenna McGrath. 

McGrath, a local parent, business owner and member of municipal council, said teachers and students need Albertans’ advocacy. 

“I’m not an educator but I’m hearing educators everywhere are stating the inaccuracies of the proposed curriculum,” McGrath said. “Our children deserve better.”

Bob Covey // bob@thejasperlocal.com