16

Education and the United Conservative Party of Alberta

Charles F. Webber

The discourse among educational stakeholders in Alberta since the 2019 provincial election has reflected the wide variety of views that Albertans held about the form and function of schools. Much of the debate focused on power and control; the Alberta Teachers’ Association (ATA) and the United Conservative Party (UCP) competed for dominance in decisions about curricular revision, external student assessment, and teacher discipline, while both claimed to speak in the best interests of Alberta students and on behalf of Albertans (see also Lori Williams’ chapter on labour and the UCP government). The two organizations entrenched their disagreement about the rights of parents to select their children’s schools. Parents, members of various faiths, opposition parties, and academics contributed their often-conflicting opinions about whether charter and independent schools should continue to exist or, if they do, if they should receive any government funding. All stakeholders voiced strong opinions about the operation of gay-straight alliances in schools, whether prayer had a place in nondenominational schools, and when elementary students should learn what details about the lives of First Nations children in residential schools. Financial matters also featured prominently in post 2019 educational discussions, including teachers’ salary levels and administration of the Alberta Teachers’ Retirement Fund. However, by far the most disruptive issue for school and community members was the impact of COVID-19.

It is in this turbulent educational milieu that the UCP developed policies and implemented practices affecting the over 730,0001 Alberta students attending Early Childhood Services (ECS) through grade 12. The following account explores the bifurcated perspectives evident among stakeholders in relation to many important educational issues in recent years. It considers the historical and recent relationship between the ATA and the UCP government. The development of a controversial draft K–6 elementary curriculum is summarized, followed by an overview of how pandemic factors disrupted schooling for all Albertans. A concluding section will highlight the drivers of educational change in Alberta and speculate about the future of Alberta school communities. First though, a brief explanation—necessary for contextualizing the rest of this report—will share the origins of the provincial education system and the features that distinguish education in Alberta from other Canadian provinces and territories.

A Brief Contextual Description

International visitors are always curious about why the Alberta government funds Catholic and nondenominational schools separately, but equally, yet describes them both as “public education.” When visitors learn that some but not all Canadian provinces fund both Catholic and nondenominational schools, depending upon decisions made when each province joined the Canadian Confederation, the next question usually relates to the absence of a federal education office that most other nations have. The answer is that Section 93 of the British North America Act of 1867, subsequently renamed the Constitution Act 1867,2 assigns responsibility for education to each province, except for the education of First Nations children, armed forces personnel, and federal prison inmates. The Constitution Act 1982 affirmed these arrangements.

So, when Alberta became a Canadian province in 19053 it gained control of education within its borders subject to guaranteeing the rights of Catholics and Protestants to operate separate school systems. As a result, Catholic and Protestant schools4 continue to be parts of the fully funded public education system.

Overall, the structure and governance of the Alberta school system reflects the cultural, religious, and linguistic legacies of two of Canada’s founding cultures—the French and the English. The First Nations of Canada constituted a third founding culture, but the education of First Nations children followed a very different trajectory. The Constitution Acts of 1867 and 1982 assigned responsibility for First Nations to the federal government, which led to the establishment of residential schools that First Nations children were required to attend. Residential schools operated in Canada from the late 1800s to the mid-1990s.5 Albertans of all races and religions continue to grieve the emotional trauma caused by separating generations of First Nations children from their families. In addition, the legacy of residential schools includes many reports of physical and sexual abuse of students by those who were entrusted to teach and care for them.

In the late twentieth century and more recently, the federal government began to share greater control of education with local education authorities in First Nations communities and in alignment with Treaties 6, 7, and 86 between the Canadian government, i.e., the Crown, and First Nations in Alberta. Thus, reserve schools operate under the local jurisdiction of Chief and Council while retaining close association with the Alberta department of education in terms of curriculum and teachers’ credentials. The complex arrangements for education in Alberta manifest the influence of English and French colonization, legislation from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, Catholic and Protestant religions, the history of residential schools, and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada: Calls to Action.7

Legislation that was passed by successive conservative governments led Alberta to develop an education system that is relatively unique within Canada. Alberta has the highest degree of school choice in Canada.8 Parents can elect to send their children to a wide array of schools organized according to academic focus, sports, arts, gender, religion, language, learning challenges and strengths, and more. Parents also may choose to homeschool their children or to pay tuition fees—in addition to their school taxes—to enroll them in private schools that serve their cultural and academic interests. Even greater choice is provided through charter schools that are required to offer the Alberta Program of Studies9 in ways that attract students with interests in, for example, gifted education, gender-specific schooling, and back-to-the-basics teaching and learning.

Bifurcated Educational Perspectives

The political right in Alberta has dominated educational policy setting since 1935 when the Social Credit Party of Alberta replaced the previous Liberal government. As part of a general endorsement of school choice, Alberta became the only Canadian province to establish and operate charter schools,10 a form of public school with freedom to offer unique programming intended to enhance student learning in innovative ways. Independent schools and homeschooling also feature as central elements of school choice.

The ATA has long opposed charter11 and private schools12 and declined to recognize charter schools as public schools. It publicly opposed the 2020 Choice in Education Act13 that removed the cap on the number of charter schools permitted in Alberta and allowed charter school applications to go directly to the minister of education, bypassing the previous requirement for applications to first go to the local school board. Perhaps contradictorily, it claimed that the Act eroded public education and, concurrently, it observed that public schools, i.e., Catholic and nondenominational school districts, already contained a variety of school types from which parents and students could choose.14

Standardized testing was institutionalized by past Alberta legislatures in the form of provincial achievement tests administered at grades 3, 6, and 9, and diploma exams for grade 12 courses.15 The former were not designed to affect learners’ grades but, rather, intended to gather data that would inform instructional improvement, curriculum revisions, staffing needs, professional development programming, resource allocation, and more. Grade 12 diploma exams were expected to inform summative evaluations and serve a gatekeeping function for post-secondary institutions and employers.

The New Democratic Party (NDP) government that was elected in 2015 modified the grade 3 provincial achievement test so that it was administered at the beginning of the school year, not at the end. The name was changed to student learning assessments. Relatedly, the weighting of grade 12 diploma exams was reduced from 50 per cent to 30 per cent of students’ final grades. Both of these moves reflected the views of the ATA that sees external examinations16 as an infringement on teacher professionalism and autonomy. After their election in 2019, the UCP government mused publicly about the possibility of reversing the format of grade 3 assessments and increasing the weighting of grade 12 diploma exam marks, but the changes did not emerge as priorities and to date have been left undone. However, the COVID-19 pandemic caused Education Minister Adriana LaGrange to make grade 12 diploma exams optional during the 2020–21 school year but to require them for 2021–22, but with a temporary weighting of 10 per cent of students’ final grades. The exams will return to a 30 per cent weighting effective September 2022.17

Opposing views about pedagogy were highlighted in 2020 discussions of curriculum reform in Alberta, when Education Minister Adriana LaGrange stated her government’s opposition to inquiry-based or discovery learning.18 Rather, she said that literacy and numeracy would form the foundation of a new K–6 curriculum. Her statement was viewed positively by representatives of some school districts but criticized by the teachers’ union, which subsequently panned the entire proposed K–6 curriculum.

Stark contrasts in views about school choice, assessment, curricular decisions, and accountability elicited emotional online exchanges and too often vitriolic social media postings. The tension-filled communications occurred in the context of a UCP government that began to govern a few months prior to a global pandemic, which led to the near collapse of the Alberta health care system, intermittent workplace and school closures, and extensive job losses. Thus, conflicted and heated dialogue was exacerbated by the unprecedented social disruption caused by COVID-19. Indeed, the CBC experimented with turning off the comments sections on its online news sites19 because of the severe abuse directed toward journalists and other viewers.

Government and the Alberta Teachers’ Association

There was a time when the ATA arguably perceived its working relationship with the conservative government of the day as much closer, or at least more amicable, than the one that they currently have with the UCP government. For instance, Halvar Jonson,20 a former president of the ATA, was elected in 1982 in Ponoka, Alberta, as a Progressive Conservative (PC) member of the legislative assembly and subsequently served for over three years as minister of education during the Klein Revolution. Jonson’s relationship with the teachers’ union went through times of tension, but he was described by a former executive staff member of the union as “. . . the best minister we could have had at a very difficult time.”

Frank Bruseker21 was another former president of the ATA who also served as a provincial member of the legislative assembly. Following two terms as a Liberal opposition member, Bruseker served three terms as leader of the teachers’ union. Like Jonson, Bruseker moved with apparent ease between government and the union. In fact, in 2019, Bruseker received honorary membership in the ATA, its highest recognition for service.

Given the current fractious context of Alberta politics, it is difficult to imagine the current president of the union, Jason Schilling, moving into a legislator role with a political party other than the NDP. Moreover, it is unlikely that the current minister of education, Adriana LaGrange, will be honoured or described fondly decades from now by a senior teachers’ union staff member. In May 2021, approximately 99 per cent of the nearly 450 members of the Annual Representative Assembly, the policy making arm of the ATA, passed a motion of non-confidence in the education minister.22 The members of the assembly represent the over 46,00023 certificated full and part-time teachers who are members of the ATA.

The motion of non-confidence was the culmination of a series of disagreements between the teachers’ union and the provincial government, the most prominent of which was the draft K–6 curriculum.24 The motion was accompanied by claims that the curriculum development process did not involve teachers sufficiently. There was dissatisfaction with the scope and sequence of the curriculum, particularly the social studies component, described by various teacher and university faculty member reviewers as loaded with too much Eurocentric content for young learners but, concurrently, inadequate coverage of francophone, First Nations, and Métis cultural knowledge and perspectives.

Other disputed issues include the government’s decision in 2019 to move the administration of the Alberta Teachers’ Retirement Fund to the government-owned Alberta Investment Management Corporation. The ATA initiated a court challenge that was dropped in the fall of 2021 after an agreement25 was reached to permit the Alberta Teachers’ Retirement Fund board to retain control of pension fund investment strategies. Another controversial issue was the decrease in funding for the equivalent of approximately 1,800 education assistants and classroom aides, the result of lower-than-anticipated enrolments at the early childhood level and the increase in parents electing to educate their children at home rather than send them to school during the COVID-19 pandemic.26

The Teaching Profession Act27 combined the functions of the ATA as a union and a professional association. That is, the association was entrusted with negotiating working conditions for its members while also fostering improvements to the profession and disciplining members who are found to have contravened the Code of Professional Conduct.28 Different opinions about appropriate disciplinary action emerged in a 2019 case of a teacher who inappropriately touched elementary students over a period of four years. The ATA recommended suspensions of the teacher’s certificate for two years, but Minister LaGrange permanently revoked the teaching certificate and vowed to review recent cases of teacher misconduct.29 The response from the association was to suggest the minister was seeking to discredit the organization. This example highlights the challenges associated with the dual union-professional association function of the ATA, a tension that contributed to the separation of those roles in Ontario and British Columbia and the establishment of the Ontario College of Teachers30 and the Teacher Regulation Branch31 (previously the British Columbia College of Teachers32).

The Alberta education minister’s concerns about teacher professional discipline led to a government proposal in late 2021 to remove responsibility for teacher discipline from the ATA.33 The association responded by charging the provincial government with politicizing teacher discipline, de-professionalizing teachers, and fostering an adversarial culture in education.34 Nonetheless, Education Minister LaGrange observed that she perceived it to be a conflict of interest for the teachers’ union to be responsible for defending its members while concurrently disciplining them for unprofessional conduct. She also stated that Alberta is the only Canadian province or territory where the teachers’ union is responsible for disciplining its members and proposed that teacher discipline be the mandate of an independent commissioner.35 The government’s proposal calls for the commissioner to make decisions, potentially recommend penalties, forward complaints to mediation, or have concerns heard by a panel of teachers and community members, with decisions posted online. The proposed change is scheduled to come into effect in January 2023.36

Draft K–6 School Curriculum

The proposed elementary school curriculum elicited an unabated storm of controversy when it was introduced in the spring of 2021. Politicized from the start, it was preceded by suggestions that the former NDP government wanted to reinforce inquiry-based discovery learning and teaching, which needed to be corrected by the UCP government. An Alberta government website37 states that the new curriculum will deliver essential knowledge to students in the areas of literacy, numeracy, citizenship, and practical skills.

Criticism of the draft curriculum began with opposition statements38 that the draft curriculum failed to adequately include the First Nations experiences related to residential schools. Further, the curriculum was deemed to be Eurocentric and age inappropriate with its inclusion of content about ancient Rome and China. The ATA observed39 that the curriculum does not reflect current theory and research about teaching and learning. The ATA shared the finding of its poll of 900 Albertans40 that just over half of respondents believed the curriculum would not provide students with the knowledge and skills they need. Other criticisms included statements that the draft curriculum does not facilitate inclusion and acceptance of 2SLGBTQA+ students.41

A group stating that it is sponsored by the Association of Alberta Deans of Education42 responded to the draft curriculum by inviting and sharing reviews from individuals with expertise in curriculum and child development. Its website, titled Alberta Curriculum Analysis,43 stated that it is designed to share nonpartisan and expert advice on the draft curriculum. Members of the steering committee and contributors to the site represent primarily teachers and teacher educators from Alberta universities.

Virtually all the subject areas in the draft curriculum received a host of negative reviews on the Alberta Curriculum Analysis site. The English language arts curriculum area received some positive comments but even this subject was criticized by most reviewers. The social studies content in the draft curriculum was a flashpoint for extremely negative reviews. It was said to perpetuate patriarchal stereotypes within Canadian society and to reinforce white privilege. Other descriptions stated that the social studies curriculum failed to incorporate First Nation, Métis, and Inuit perspectives; presented Christianity as a dominant world view; and inadequately facilitated research and inquiry skills.

The dialogue about the draft K–6 curriculum was turbulent, unrelenting, and divisive. Most Alberta school boards chose not to participate in piloting the draft K–6 curriculum during the 2021–2022 school year.44 Following the October 2021 municipal election, the school board members of the province’s two largest public school boards in Edmonton45 and Calgary46 voiced their united opposition to the proposed curriculum. Nonetheless, the UCP government mandated in April 2022 that the new programs in K–6 English language arts, mathematics, and physical education and wellness would begin in September 2022.47 The government also expects that the remainder of the K–6 draft curriculum, including social studies, would be piloted in September 2023 and implemented fully by September 2024.

The ATA cautioned48 its members against participating in working groups charged with developing new curricula for the secondary grades. The Alberta NDP stated that they would reverse49 the implementation of the draft K–6 curriculum if they won the next election and would follow that by the launch of a new public consultation process about curriculum changes.

Pandemic Factors

Underpinning the disruptive politics of education since March 2020 was the COVID-19 pandemic. School staff members were frontline workers and, although many expressed concerns about transmissibility of the virus to students and colleagues, virtually all school workers navigated the intermittent opening and closures by going to school when asked. They shifted from in-school to online teaching and learning, sometimes on a few hours’ notice. It was observed by one school superintendent that the pandemic caused school community members—teachers, students, and parents—to coalesce around the care and education of students in unprecedented circumstances.50

The work of school community members occurred in a context of uncertainty. Masking initially was thought to be unnecessary but that changed as the pandemic gained momentum, so teachers and all students, except those in early childhood classrooms, shifted to wearing masks. Parents and teachers watched elementary students struggle to keep masks covering their mouths and noses, with frequent lapses throughout the school day. Handwashing and use of hand sanitizer quickly became routine but so did more frequent bouts of anxiety among students who were afraid of getting sick and, in the case of high school students, worried about admission to post-secondary studies.

Teachers and school administrators followed government and school board directives to rearrange life in schools.51 For example, they organized class cohorts designed to reduce widespread transmission of COVID-19. They monitored the isolation of individual students who tested positive for the virus. They shifted entire classrooms from gathering in school to meeting online for up to two weeks whenever someone in the class qualified as a close contact, although that requirement relaxed as the pandemic progressed. Parents were unable to enter schools and had to wait outside to collect their children. School staff were advised to increase ventilation whenever possible, although most schools were built with closed heating and ventilation systems and with windows that do not open or perhaps have no windows at all.

The periods of uncertainty and conflicting advice led some parents to keep their children at home even when schools were open. Homeschooling in Alberta increased dramatically52 and there is the possibility that homeschooling will continue even as pandemic restrictions ease. Parents who opted to teach their children at home found they had to take on the role and the work associated with being a teacher. They also had to grapple with computer access and bandwidth issues53 when one or more children were studying at home and parents were doing their work online. Adequate workspace also factored into accommodating study and work at home. In rural and marginalized communities all these considerations emerged as equity issues.

Educators and parents worried about the impact of provincially mandated lockdowns and restricted access to schools. The possibility of learning loss54 was real for isolating students, particularly those with limited access to online learning. Limited or no participation in school and community sports and arts activities affected major parts of many students’ lives. These circumstances meant greatly reduced social interaction and missed opportunities to mark learning milestones. Although in-person high school graduations throughout Alberta are planned for 2022, graduation ceremonies in 2020 and 2021 were missed or reduced to parking lot gatherings where drive-by waves substituted for walking across a school stage to receive a parchment.55 A recent study56 of student wellness found that approximately three-quarters of students between the ages of twelve and eighteen feel that they are adjusting to the regular educational changes associated with the pandemic. However, female students aged fifteen to eighteen felt more stress than males and younger students (see also Lisa Young’s chapter on COVID-19).

What Is Ahead?

The politics of education are not distinct from the larger contested Alberta political landscape. A return to pre-pandemic teaching and learning is unlikely. Polarized views of what schooling should be—traditional learning versus inquiry-based learning—have been expressed so strongly within school communities, by provincial politicians, and in the media that the politics of education are likely to continue to divide into the near future.

There is the distinct possibility that, if a new program of studies is perceived implementable by enough Albertans, more parents than ever will seek forms of schooling for their children that align with their views on traditional versus inquiry-based learning. The draft K–6 curriculum has been disappointing to those who have responded quickly and vociferously: some parents certainly but also teachers, the ATA, the Official Opposition, and some university teacher educators. However, the views of other Albertans are represented in the draft K–6 curriculum, including wariness and unclear understandings of inquiry-based learning, discovery learning, and constructivism.

That means alternative schools within districts may expand and thrive, and the numbers and types of charter schools will increase, particularly considering the recent addition of $25 million over three years to support charter school expansions.57 Parents may seek the purpose-driven independent schools that currently exist and the ones that may form in response to parents’ and learners’ perceived need for schools that address specific learning interests. The current UCP government supports school choice—evidenced in the Choice in Education Act, 2020—and the magnitude and popularity of school choice among Albertans suggests that subsequent governments are unlikely to remove or reduce existing forms of school choice.

The relationship between the UCP government and the ATA will continue to be challenging. An institutional memory will linger of how teachers perceived the curriculum redevelopment process, the proposed shift in responsibility for teacher discipline, and of how they were not considered priority frontline workers when vaccines became available. Pre-pandemic discussions by the government of budget cuts and management of teachers’ pension funds may challenge future collective bargaining. However, even a change in government may not remove larger budgetary concerns about funding education and other government services in an Alberta economy shifting from oil and gas production to other sectors, so collective bargaining and school funding are unlikely to diminish in significance.

Diversity in Alberta will continue to grow. Calgary Economic Development reports58 that the city’s population represents 240 ethnic origins and is third in the proportion of visible minorities in Canadian cities. As diversity increases so does the need to recognize and adapt to differences in culturally relevant schools. In particular, the Alberta Teaching Quality Standard59 foci on inclusive school environments and on teachers’ knowledge of First Nations, Métis, and Inuit cultures suggests that these will continue to influence the politics of education. School names will continue to be challenged and to change as increasing awareness of the legacies of school namesakes lead school officials and community members to strive to balance intercultural understanding with recognition of our past. School prayer in nondenominational schools has been processed and at least partially resolved in some school settings but may remain a contested feature in others. Catholic schools have largely found ways to accommodate gay-straight alliances, however uncomfortably, but they will grapple with their historical association with residential schools and growing public awareness of their church’s involvement in separating First Nations children from their families, child abuse, and unmarked graves. Pope Francis’ April 2022 apology to Indigenous Canadians for the Roman Catholic Church’s involvement in residential schools60 and his scheduled visit to Alberta in July 202261 may address Albertans’ concerns to some extent while also underscoring the severe intergenerational harm caused by residential schools.

Despite the difficult pedagogical, cultural, and financial issues facing the Alberta school system, it can build on the provincial history of educational success. Various reports62 describe its education system as one of the top systems internationally. Students who are new Canadians generally perform well and, compared to other nations, differences in how Alberta students achieve relative to socioeconomic stratification are relatively low. There is a strong and well-established educational architecture that includes a common program of studies, however contested, plus opportunities for community voice, school choice, and information technology access. There also is a plethora of formal and informal organizations that represent student, educator, and community member interests. Perhaps most important, annual satisfaction surveys indicate that students, teachers, school trustees, and parents express extremely high satisfaction levels with the quality of teaching and learning in Alberta schools.

Drivers of Change

Premier Jason Kenney’s announcement on 18 May 2022 that he would step down as leader of the UCP63 introduced yet more uncertainty to the future of schooling in Alberta. His decision launched declarations by several prominent current and past members of the legislative assembly that they planned to seek the leadership of the UCP. The leadership campaign may well foreshadow a revised set of provincial goals for Alberta students, parents, and educators, either as the mandate of a UCP government re-elected in 2023 or of an NDP government that could be returned to power after a four-year hiatus.

Whatever the outcome of the 2023 provincial election, Albertans can anticipate that educational policies and a provincial mandated program of studies, accompanied by some form of external accountability framework, almost certainly will continue to elicit diverse opinions from community stakeholders, as they have throughout Alberta’s history. The challenging nature of educational decision-making will continue to be influenced by several factors, ranging from the COVID-19 pandemic to the economy to social justice issues and technological innovations.

The pandemic of 2020 until the present disrupted schooling in ways not seen since the 1918 flu epidemic. Both viruses circulated suddenly and unexpectedly. The 2020 COVID-19 pandemic led to social and economic disruption that continues. Alberta Health Services suggested that the virus may shift from a pandemic to become endemic,64 with a lower transmission rate as more Albertans twelve and older are vaccinated and as vaccines for children under twelve are accessed.65 However, Albertans are slower than the rest of Canada to become fully vaccinated and their vaccine hesitancy66 may affect how many young children receive the vaccine now available for them,67 with a direct impact on the frequency and size of COVID-19 outbreaks in schools. We can anticipate that current and future provincial governments and school boards will struggle with vaccine hesitancy and with resistance to vaccine mandates for children. It is also possible that other viruses will emerge to continue to impact the health and safety of students and staff.

Gay-straight alliances68 in schools were implemented fully throughout Alberta, including in Catholic schools and in some alternative schools where policy makers and educators struggled with the juxtaposition of the mandate for the peer support networks and their religious or cultural beliefs. However, the work to make schools safe and welcoming for 2SLGBTQA+ students will continue as young people identify, for example, as gay, queer, or trans gender.

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada: Calls to Action will drive educational policies and practices in band-operated schools, even though they are not governed by the provincial government, and in all schools: public, Catholic, charter, and independent. In particular, the Call to Action to reduce the differences between education funding for First Nations children on and off reserves will demand attention. The Alberta Teaching Quality Standard requires teacher educators in provincial universities to ensure that their graduates understand the social and educational implications of treaties and residential schools. This is a positive step in attending to the educational challenges and opportunities for First Nations, Métis, and Inuit students but ongoing achievement gaps between Indigenous youth and the general population of provincial students will need continued attention. Although Alberta schools enjoy broad support from students and community members, Indigenous students in band-operated schools and in urban schools have not achieved academically to the levels of other students.

Alberta has relied on oil and gas for its prosperity and funding for public services like education. There are exceptions in rural and remote communities, but most Alberta schools are well equipped with technology and internet access in support of teaching and learning. However, the large drop in oil prices in 2019–2020 was accompanied by job losses and deficit provincial budgets (see Trevor Tombe’s chapter on Alberta’s fiscal situation). Although oil prices increased in 2021 and soared in the first half of 2022, due in part to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, it is reasonable to anticipate ongoing fluctuations in provincial oil and gas royalties, even if the Trans Mountain pipeline69 is completed and new markets for natural resources are accessible. Opposition to pipelines and to the burning of fossil fuels is likely to continue so the future of Alberta’s natural resource industries is uncertain and, correspondingly, historically high levels of funding for schools may be increasingly difficult to maintain. Similarly, the salaries70 of Alberta educators are high compared to those in other Canadian provinces so collective bargaining may be challenging with the current UCP government but also future provincial governments.

Conclusion

Alberta has a diverse population, so wide-ranging opinions about education should be expected. The provincial education system is an artifact of a complex history that is replete with strong cultural, economic, and colonial dimensions that Albertans still are processing. Current forms of school structures and curricula are the result of past governments and citizens seeking to accommodate differences in how Albertans wish to educate their children. The draft K–6 curriculum that currently is the centre of heated debate eventually will emerge during the mandate of the current or a future provincial government in a form that will continue to be debated and revised to reflect changing learner needs.

The ATA continues to offer professional development to its members and to sponsor theoretical, empirical, and politicized perspectives on teaching and learning, while also exhibiting an increasing presence as a union. The strong unionized representation is evident in the recent campaign71 launched by the ATA to lobby for public support against the UCP government. Objections are directed toward what the association perceives as funding cuts, large class sizes, and an inappropriate K–6 curriculum. Basically, ATA is renewing and expanding its mandate as a union.

The UCP has governed, and educators have fulfilled their duties during a challenging time in Alberta’s history. Perhaps the turbulent political landscape would have formed without the intensity wrought by the COVID-19 pandemic. Nonetheless, the difficult issues facing Alberta’s school system will continue to demand the attention of Albertans for some time, no matter which political party forms government after the next election in 2023.

Notes

1 Government of Alberta, Student Population Statistics, 2021, https://www.alberta.ca/student-population-statistics.aspx

2 Government of Canada, Consolidation of Constitution Acts, 1867 to 1982, https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/Const/index.html

3 Government of Canada, The Alberta Act, 1905, https://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/rp-pr/csj-sjc/constitution/lawreg-loireg/p1t121.html

4 Alberta Education, Alberta Schools and Authorities, 2021, https://education.alberta.ca/alberta-education/school-authority-index/everyone/alberta-schools/

5 Government of Alberta, Residential School Research and Recognition, 2021, https://www.alberta.ca/residential-school-research-and-recognition.aspx

6 Alberta Regional Professional Development Consortium, Alberta Treaties 6, 7, 8, https://empoweringthespirit.ca/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Alberta-Treaties-678-1.pdf

7 Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada: Calls to Action, 2015, https://www.irsss.ca/downloads/trc-calls-to-action.pdf

8 Lynn Bosetti, Deani Van Pelt, and Derek J. Allison, “The Changing Landscape of School Choice in Canada: From Pluralism to Parental Preference?” Education Policy Analysis Archives 25, no. 38 (2017): 12. http://dx.doi.org/10.14507/epaa.25.2685

9 Government of Alberta, Programs of Study, https://www.alberta.ca/programs-of-study.aspx

10 Government of Alberta, Charter Schools, 2021, https://www.alberta.ca/charter-schools.aspx

11 Alberta Teachers’ Association, School Choice: Charter Schools, Private School and Vouchers, https://www.teachers.ab.ca/News%20Room/Issues/Pages/School-Choice.aspx

12 Alberta Teachers’ Association, Province Increases Private School Funding: Government Sneaking Privatization in the Back Door, Warns ATA, 2008, https://www.teachers.ab.ca/News%20Room/ata%20news/Volume%2043/Number%201/In%20the%20News/Pages/Province%20increases%20private%20school%20funding.aspx

13 Legislative Assembly of Alberta, Bill 15: Choice in Education Act, 2020, https://www.assembly.ab.ca/assembly-business/bills/bill?billinfoid=11845&from=bills

14 Eva Ferguson, “Choice in Education Act Raises Concerns of Eroding Public System,” Calgary Herald, 28 May 2020, https://calgaryherald.com/news/choice-in-education-act-raises-concerns-of-eroding-public-system

15 Government of Alberta, K to 12 Provincial Assessment, 2021, https://www.alberta.ca/k-12-provincial-assessment.aspx

16 Alberta Teachers’ Association, A Note about Standardized Testing, 2019, https://www.teachers.ab.ca/News%20Room/The%20Learning%20Team/Vol22/Number-4/Pages/A-note-about-standardized-testing.aspx

17 Government of Alberta, Diploma Exams—Overview, 2022, https://www.alberta.ca/diploma-exams-overview.aspx#jumplinks-2

18 Morgan Black, “Alberta Government New School Curriculum Focused on ‘Evidence, Numeracy & Literacy’: LaGrange,” Global News, 6 August 2020, https://globalnews.ca/news/7254886/alberta-government-curriculum-review/

19 Brodie Fenlon, “Why CBC Is Turning Off Facebook Comments on New Posts for a Month,” CBC News, 15 June 2021, https://www.cbc.ca/news/editor-blog-facebook-comments-1.6064804

20 Karen Virag, “Halvar Jonson—Best Possible Education Minister at a Very Difficult Time,” ATA Magazine, 10 December 2012, https://www.teachers.ab.ca/News%20Room/ata%20magazine/Volume-93/Number-2/Pages/Halvar-Jonson.aspx

21 Frank Bruseker, “From the President—A New School Year and a New President,” ATA Magazine, 2003, https://www.teachers.ab.ca/News%20Room/ata%20magazine/Volume%2084/Number%201/Pages/From%20the%20President.aspx

22 Stephen David Cook, “Teachers Assembly Votes Non-Confidence in Alberta Education Minister,” CBC News, 23 May 2021, https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/non-confidence-alberta-teachers-1.6038125

23 Alberta Teachers’ Association, Association Structure and Organization, 2021, https://www.teachers.ab.ca/SiteCollectionDocuments/ATA/About/Governance/ATA%20Structure%20and%20Organization%20Chart%20IM-2.pdf

24 Government of Alberta, Draft K–6 Curriculum.

25 Sarah Rieger, “Alberta Teachers Association Reaches Pension Agreement with AIMCo, Ending Lawsuit against Province,” CBC News, 8 September 2021, https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/ata-aimco-pension-agreement-1.6168921

26 Lauren Boothby, “Alberta Budget 2021: Province Says It Won’t ‘Penalize’ School Boards for Lower Enrolment, But Nearly 2,000 Jobs Lost to Pandemic Won’t Return,” Edmonton Journal, 26 February 2021, https://edmontonjournal.com/news/politics/alberta-budget-2021-province-will-not-penalize-school-boards-amid-covid-19-enrolment-drop

27 Alberta Queen’s Printer, Teaching Profession Act: Revised Statutes of Alberta 2000, Chapter T-2, 2020, https://www.qp.alberta.ca/documents/Acts/T02.pdf

28 Alberta Teachers’ Association, Code of Professional Conduct, 2018, https://www.teachers.ab.ca/SiteCollectionDocuments/ATA/Publications/Teachers-as-Professionals/IM-4E%20Code%20of%20Professional%20Conduct.pdf

29 Sammy Hudes, “Education Minister Orders Permanent Ban for Teacher Accused of Touching Students, Overruling Union Decision,” Calgary Herald, 20 December 2019, https://calgaryherald.com/news/politics/education-minister-orders-permanent-ban-for-teacher-accused-of-touching-students-overruling-inappropriate-union-decision

30 See Ontario College of Teachers, https://www.oct.ca/

31 See British Columbia Ministry of Education, https://teacherregulation.gov.bc.ca/Index.aspx

32 See “B.C. Ends Teachers’ Control of Disciplinary College,” CBC News, 26 October 2011, https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/b-c-ends-teachers-control-of-disciplinary-college-1.1028673

33 Janet French, “Alberta Teachers’ Association to Lose Disciplinary Role, Province Announces,” CBC News, 9 December 2021, https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/alberta-teachers-association-discipline-1.6279621

34 Madeline Smith, “ATA Says UCP’s Teacher Discipline Changes Would ‘Politicize’ Process,” Edmonton Journal, 6 April 2022, https://edmontonjournal.com/news/local-news/ata-says-ucps-teacher-discipline-changes-would-politicize-process

35 Dean Bennett, “Alberta Proposing That an Independent Commissioner Discipline Teachers,” Global News, 31 March 2022, https://globalnews.ca/news/8726333/alberta-teachers-discipline-ata/

36 Government of Alberta, Bill 15: The Education (Reforming Teacher Profession Discipline) Amendment Act, 2022, https://docs.assembly.ab.ca/LADDAR_files/docs/bills/bill/legislature_30/session_3/20220222_bill-015.pdf

37 Government of Alberta, Draft K–6 Curriculum, 2021, https://www.alberta.ca/curriculum.aspx

38 Dean Bennett, “Alberta’s Proposed K–6 School Curriculum Focuses on Basics, Practical Skills,” Global News, 29 March 2021, https://globalnews.ca/news/7726173/alberta-proposed-k-6-curriculum-basic-skills/

39 Lucie Edwardson, “’A Failure’: Teachers Overwhelmingly Oppose K–6 Draft Curriculum, ATA Reports,” CBC News, 29 September 2021, https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/a-failure-teachers-overwhelmingly-oppose-k-6-draft-curriculum-ata-reports-1.6193547?__vfz=medium%3Dsharebar

40 Alberta Teachers’ Association, Fewer Than One-In-Five Albertans Support Draft Curriculum, 5 October 2021, https://www.teachers.ab.ca/News%20Room/NewsReleases/Pages/Fewer-Than-One-in-Five-Albertans-Support-Draft-Curriculum.aspx

41 Kristopher Wells, “Opinion: Seeing Who Is Reflected in Alberta’s School Curriculum,” Edmonton Journal, 13 August 2021, https://edmontonjournal.com/opinion/columnists/opinion-seeing-who-is-reflected-in-albertas-school-curriculum

42 Association of Alberta Deans of Education, https://www.ualberta.ca/education/media-library/faculty/documents/about-us/aade-curriculum-statement-.pdf

43 Alberta Curriculum Analysis, 2021, https://alberta-curriculum-analysis.ca/

44 Eva Ferguson, “Opposition to K–6 Curriculum Draft Grows as 11,723 Parents Sign Petition,” Calgary Herald, 29 April 2021, https://calgaryherald.com/news/local-news/opposition-to-k-6-curriculum-draft-grows-as-11723-parents-sign-petition

45 Lauren Boothby, “’Rocky Roads Ahead’ All of Edmonton’s New Public School Trustees Have Vowed to Oppose Alberta’s K–6 Draft Curriculum,” Edmonton Journal, 20 October 2021, https://edmontonjournal.com/news/local-news/rocky-roads-ahead-as-nearly-all-of-edmontons-new-public-school-trustees-vow-to-fight-alberta-on-k-6-draft-curriculum

46 Mark Villani, “Newly-Elected Calgary Board of Education Trustees United against Alberta’s Draft Curriculum,” CTV News, 20 October 2021, https://calgary.ctvnews.ca/newly-elected-calgary-board-of-education-trustees-united-against-alberta-s-draft-curriculum-1.5631481

47 Government of Alberta, Three Subjects of New Curriculum Ready for Classrooms, 2022, https://www.alberta.ca/release.cfm?xID=82345661B5300-CB57-0922-7DEF28F231D359B0

48 Alberta Teachers’ Association, Teachers Should Exercise Extreme Caution Before Volunteering for Curriculum Work, 16 June 2021, https://www.teachers.ab.ca/News%20Room/Issues/Pages/Teachers-Should-Exercise-Extreme-Caution-Before-Volunteering-for-Curriculum-Work.aspx

49 Quinn Campbell, “NDP Says New Alberta Curriculum Will Be Tossed If Elected in 2023,” Global News, 6 April 2021, https://globalnews.ca/news/7741996/alberta-ndp-new-curriculum/

50 Cappy Smart School, “Year-End Message from the Chief Superintendent,” 11 August 2021, https://school.cbe.ab.ca/school/CappySmart/about-us/news-centre/_layouts/15/ci/post.aspx?oaid=4fa077d6-0734-4a9e-aac4-b7164d99c969&oact=20001

51 Government of Alberta, Staying Safe and Healthy This School Year, 2021, accessed 25 May 2022 at https://www.alberta.ca/k-12-learning-during-covid-19.aspx

52 Lucie Edwardson, “Home School Enrolment Nearly Doubles in Alberta,” CBC News, 26 January 2021, https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/home-schooling-enrolment-alberta-education-covid-children-students-1.5887496

53 Jennifer Henderson, “Poor Internet Makes Online Education Impossible in Rural Alberta,” CTV News, 23 September 2020, https://edmonton.ctvnews.ca/poor-internet-makes-online-education-impossible-in-rural-alberta-1.5116340

54 University of Calgary, How Addressing Our Young Kids’ COVID-19 Learning Loss Is a Matter of Child’s Play, 20 September 2021, https://ucalgary.ca/news/how-addressing-our-young-kids-covid-19-learning-loss-matter-childs-play

55 Wallis Snowdon, “No Slow Dances: High Schools Find New Ways to Mark Graduation During Pandemic,” CBC News, 11 June 2021, https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/alberta-high-school-graduation-covid-1.6060575

56 Kelly Dean Schwartz et al., “COVID-19 and Student Well-Being: Stress and Mental Health During Return-to-School,” Canadian Journal of School Psychology 26, no. 2 (2021), https://doi.org/10.1177/08295735211001653

57 Eva Ferguson, “UCP Announces Additional $25 Million to Support Charter Schools,” Calgary Herald, 16 March 2022, https://calgaryherald.com/news/politics/ucp-announces-additional-25-million-to-support-charter-schools

58 Calgary Economic Development, Demographics: Ethnic Origin, 2016, https://www.calgaryeconomicdevelopment.com/insights/demographics/

59 Alberta Education, Teaching Quality Standard, 2018, https://open.alberta.ca/dataset/4596e0e5-bcad-4e93-a1fb-dad8e2b800d6/resource/75e96af5-8fad-4807-b99a-f12e26d15d9f/download/edc-alberta-education-teaching-quality-standard-2018-01-17.pdf

60 Elisabetta Povoledo and Ian Austen, “‘I Feel Shame’: Pope Apologizes to Indigenous People of Canada,” New York Times, 1 April 2022, https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/01/world/europe/pope-apology-indigenous-people-canada.html

61 Matthew Black, ”Pope Francis to Visit Edmonton in July,” Edmonton Journal, 13 May 2022, https://edmontonjournal.com/news/local-news/pope-francis-to-visit-edmonton-in-july

62 Conference Board of Canada, Education and Skills, 2014, https://www.conferenceboard.ca/hcp/provincial/education.aspx?AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1; Sean Coughlan, “How Canada Became an Education Superpower,” BBC News, 2 August 2017, https://www.bbc.com/news/business-40708421; David Staples, “Alberta’s Education System Earns Top Marks in Science, Reading,” Edmonton Journal, 6 December 2016, https://edmontonjournal.com/opinion/columnists/david-staples-albertas-education-system-earns-top-marks-in-science-reading

63 Dean Bennett, “Controversy, COVID-19, and the Oil Crash: A Look Back at Jason Kenney’s Rise and Fall,” CBC News, 19 May 2022, https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/jason-kenney-resignation-ucp-alberta-1.6459124

64 Government of Alberta, “Shifting from Pandemic to Endemic,” COVID-19 Information, 2021, https://www.alberta.ca/assets/documents/health-covid-19-pandemic-to-endemic.pdf

65 Government of Alberta, COVID-19 Vaccines and Records, 2021, https://www.alberta.ca/covid19-vaccine.aspx

66 Jennifer Henderson, “Rural Mayors Battle Fourth Wave, Vaccine Hesitancy,” CTV News Edmonton, 24 September 2021, https://edmonton.ctvnews.ca/rural-mayors-battle-fourth-wave-vaccine-hesitancy-1.5599958

67 Alberta Health Services, COVID-19 Immunization for Children Under 12, 2022, https://www.albertahealthservices.ca/topics/page17746.aspx

68 Government of Alberta, Gay-Straight Alliances, 2021, https://www.alberta.ca/gay-straight-alliances.aspx

69 Trans Mountain, 2021, https://www.transmountain.com/

70 Dean Bennett, “Alberta Finance Minister Says No Money Available for Teacher Salary Increases,” Global News, 3 March 2020, https://globalnews.ca/news/6626420/alberta-budget-teachers-school-boards-bill-5/

71 Hamdi Issawi, “Alberta Parents, Teachers Launch Ad Campaign Against Draft Curriculum, Class Sizes and Cuts,” Edmonton Journal, 12 October 2021, https://edmontonjournal.com/news/local-news/alberta-teachers-and-parents-unite-to-launch-new-campaign-for-public-education