New K-6 social studies curriculum pilot begins in September

Hundreds of schools across Alberta, including some in the province's four largest public and Catholic school boards in Calgary and Edmonton, have agreed to pilot a new kindergarten to Grade 6 social studies curriculum this school year.

More than 1,700 teachers at 429 schools in Alberta are set to participate in the K-6 pilot in September, the province says.

Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides told CBC News he is happy with the number of educators who have opted in to test parts of the new social studies educational program.

"The piloting is an incredibly important part of refining the curriculum and making it ready for prime time. So having a broad sample of students and school boards from across the province … will just help to ensure that it's as strong as it possibly can be," Nicolaides said.

Under the pilot, teachers are able to pick and choose which grades, units, modules and learning outcomes they want to pilot in their classrooms. While some schools are requiring full teacher participation, others are giving educators a choice.

"Giving them that flexibility to be able to deal with certain parts of the curriculum as they see fit or are more comfortable with," he said.

NDP education critic Amanda Chapman told CBC News in a statement it's good to see some school boards are piloting the curriculum, but there is still a ways to go in its development.

"This government hasn't really earned the trust of teachers, staff or parents when it comes to their actions on this issue. The UCP hasn't clearly explained how they'll gather feedback from teachers or what they'll do with that feedback. Until we get more concrete answers from the government, I think it's fair to remain skeptical.

The new K-6 social studies curriculum includes lessons on Indigenous treaties, but not residential schools. Nicolaides said lessons on residential schools are planned for later grades. That curriculum remains to be developed.

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission's calls to action said Canadian schools should be teaching all students about treaty agreements and begin lessons on residential schools in kindergarten.

Of the 62 school authorities that joined the pilot, one is First Nations.

The NDP critic said the limited Indigenous content was concerning.

"One of the biggest concerns is the lack of meaningful Indigenous content in the curriculum, especially since it doesn't reflect the TRC's calls to action in education. So we're not entirely confident that schools will be able to fully pilot that part of the curriculum, and that is very unfortunate," she said.

The Calgary Board of Education told CBC News in a statement it will pilot the new curriculum in kindergarten through Grade 3; however, it has opted not to participate in grades 4-6.

The CBE said 66 teachers have expressed interest in participating in the K-3 pilot in 21 of its schools. That number could change depending on teaching assignments and student enrolment.

"We chose to pilot K-3 social studies this year (2024-25) as it will be implemented next year (2025-26). Grade 4-6 is not being implemented until 2026-27," the CBE said in a statement.

The Edmonton Catholic School Division said 40 teachers from 32 of its schools are participating in the pilot. At Edmonton Public Schools, 65 teachers will take part.

The Calgary Catholic School District told CBC News it supports piloting the draft K–6 social studies curriculum to ensure its teachers can share valuable feedback.

Teachers know best

Sarah Hamilton, assistant professor of education at Mount Royal University, told CBC News it's a step forward to see the large number of schools that volunteered for the pilot, compared with draft curricula from previous years.

"Certainly we know the first time that they tried to do this, those big boards [in Calgary and Edmonton] didn't, they had said no," Hamilton said.

She added it's important for the province to focus on getting feedback from a diverse set of schools.

"It's really good to have a mix in there … to be honest, I would like to hear that there was more than just one First Nations school that was part of this," Hamilton said.

Hamilton emphasizes the importance of listening to teachers if they provide concerning feedback.

"Teachers know best," she said. "When they're sitting in front of their class, [they know] if things are going smoothly or not, if they're working or not, because they're in there every day with their students and nobody knows their learning better than them."

The point of the pilot is to collect feedback from educators and tweak things accordingly, so it's ready for the 2025-26 school year, when it will be mandatory curriculum, Nicolaides said.