Yesterday I had the opportunity to talk with educators within our own school division about the continuously evolving profession of education, and how we are trying to move forward. There was great enthusiasm with some of the things that I shared on how we can create classrooms that are more innovative and how we can move forward, but there was also some trepidation. The fact is, many teachers feel they are torn between moving forward and doing what is right for kids, or doing what is prescribed by the curriculum of studies. This is not to say that there is nothing of value in the curriculum, but when we say the world is constantly changing yet we have curriculums that are several years old (if not older) is there not a disconnect between what we are saying and what we are able to do.
Then I see the new BC Education Plan video coming out discussing all the changes in education and how they want to move forward. As Chris Kennedy stated, it looked a lot like this New Brunswick education video that received a lot of attention last year. Although it did receive a lot of attention, I always wondered what was happening now in New Brunswick. From conversations, many said that the initiatives in that video died off quickly and that was also echoed in the tweet below:
In the BC Education Plan they talked about personalized learning, but I always wonder how you can use standardized tests to measure personalized learning? Isn’t that quite the contradiction?
I am hoping that in Alberta we move quickly to align our system so we can create opportunities to do the work that we are talking about. It is frustrating to see many teachers trying to work with their kids and do innovative things yet somehow feel guilty that they are not doing their job.
Teachers, and many stakeholders, are excited and engaged in this process of preparing our kids for the real world now and in their future, but they need the freedom and flexibility to make it happen. We also need to continue to encourage our teachers to take risks in their own learning and to continuously get better for the sake of our kids.
The kids we have now deserve it.
Watch the whole BC Education Plan video below.
