Let's Talk Curriculum!

If you are a teacher or a homeschooling parent, the curriculum is what you have to teach. In Alberta, these are found on the Alberta Website. Currently there are curriculum upgrades happening, so you'll find "New" programs of study at the first hyperlink, and "Old" programs of study, or the curriculim for older grades at the second link.

New Programs of Study

https://curriculum.learnalberta.ca/curriculum/en

Old Programs of Study

https://www.alberta.ca/programs-of-study#jumplinks-2

If you are beginning your educational journey in Alberta, you are welcome to download any or all of these and even print them out, though they are very extensive. The new curriculum is more interactive so you can focus on certain outcomes.

An outcome is what you want your students to be able to KNOW, UNDERSTAND, and DO. In the new programs of study, the outcomes are divided into Knowlege, Understanding, and Skills & Procedures.

Knowledge outcomes are the ones you teach. These are the hard facts that should be in your lessons, in your textbooks, and in your conversations. You might be able to assess their knowledge by having them talk about what they know, or write a multiple choice quiz. These are part of the lower level thinking orders -- remembering facts. However, they are still very important because without the background knowledge, or the basic thinking skills, you cannot progress and utilize higher order applications.

Understanding is where you start to use the facts to come to conclusions. These are higher order thinking skills, which will lead to the WHY of the matter. These are really important skills because without a purpose, facts are useless and take up space. Students won't remember facts ten years out of high school unless they know why they are important. These Understandings can be assessed by having discussions or debates, and writing papers or paragraphs.

The final area is Skills & Procedures. This is the area where they show you what you can do. In schools, these outcomes are observable and measurable, and therefore, these appear on your report card. These will give your quizzes, tests, papers, diagrams, performances, speeches, and other assessments a focus. It lays out exactly what your students should be able to DO with the knowledge, and apply it to their lives.

Older curriculum, which are still used for high school and some juniour high school classes, are more straightforward, with General Outcomes, and Specific Outcomes. You assess the specific outcomes, and by doing so, prove that the students have the general outcomes as well.

The General Outcome in the old curriculum is represented by the Organizing Idea and Guiding Question in the new curriculum. Specific Outcomes in the old are like the Learning Outcomes in the new.

For an example, in the grade 2 math curriculum, which is the new one, the Organizing Idea is Number: Quantity is measured with numbers that enable counting, labelling, comparing, and operating. The Guiding Question is How can quantity contribute to a sense of number? And the Learning Outcome is Students analyze quantity to 1000.

Underneath this Learning Outcome are the knowledge, understanding, skills, and processes. These are what you will assess. It is a teacher's legal responsibility to teach these outcomes, and assess for understanding.

If you find that your child, or your students have gaps in their education due to missed school, illness, educational strikes, or global pandemics, you are not alone. You might find that you are playing catch up to identify amongst all these outcomes what they need to learn yet. My intention with this blog is to inspire teachers and homeschooling parents alike with ways to find and fill these gaps in understanding. I want to parse the language of the Programs of Study out to identify basic skills that are non-negotiable for further education.

If your student is struggling, you might consider a tutor to help identify these gaps, and fill them in a safe space so they can build upon their previous knowledge and gain confidence in their own educational journey. I want to create lifelong learners, and one way to do that is to make learning fun and engaging so they have a desire to complete it.

If you as a parent are struggling, I am available to answer questions and help you figure out how to help your child with their education.

If a teacher is struggling to find the resources and time to assess individuals for gaps within the alloted time while still completing new curriculum, I'd like to create a space for you, as well. Let's work together to build our understandings and support each other through this crazy job.