In early 2009 ACEE convened two half-day workshops in Edmonton (12 March) and Calgary (23 February), which were attended by 50 individuals from 36 different organizations. Sherry Taylor and Lorraine Lastiwka from Alberta Education summarized changes to the Program of Studies, and distributed copies of feedback forms and the Discussion Draft. Participants were asked to read the new Program of Studies in advance, and gave detailed comments in response to two questions. Gareth Thomson facilitated these discussions and recorded the following responses.
Question: What suggestions do you have for further refinement of the discussion draft?
Please note that stakeholders RANKED the following suggestions – the top-ranked suggestions appear first:
- More student action.
- Increase climate change content.
- Teach about biodiversity and how to protect it
- More emphasis on water and watersheds.
- Strengthen outdoor education.
- Ensure the use of positive language.
- Work with the environmental education community.
…for more details, please see below…!
More student action. To bring the unifying idea of ‘Stewardship and Sustainability’ to the forefront in the document, and to give legs to the ‘active citizenship’ mentioned on page 1, more emphasis given to student action within the curriculum. Stewardship is central to many key government initiatives (Water for Life, Land Use Framework, Climate Change Action Plan, 
2009 Speech from the Throne) – this curriculum should reflect the government’s emphasis, and consistently provide developmentally appropriate opportunities for stewardship by students. Curriculum should increase emphasis on the application of student learning to real-world situations, develop relevant skills, and call on teachers to provide opportunities for both personal and public action. A rubric to evaluate action competence is available and should be used. The ‘Communication and Teamwork’ skill could be broadened through including the phrase “What can we accomplish together?” Specific examples:
- in Grade 3, students could be encouraged to create a vegetable garden as an action-based unit to support two Grade 3 topics (Soils and Plants)
- in Grade 4, the ‘Caring for our World’ unit places undue emphasis on waste minimization and recycling, and should instead build on the section that considers impacts on water, soil, and air. Science-based analyses show that the most effective stewardship actions by consumers have little to do with recycling, but instead focus on transportation, energy use, and food – things that students can do a lot about!
Increase climate change content. Broaden the Grade 5 ‘Weather Systems’ topic to more deeply include climate change: The title should be changed to ‘Weather and Climate,’ the concept of climate should be elaborated on (and added to the glossary), and student understandings should be broadened to include the impacts of climate change on ecosystems and humans – AND the importance of taking both personal and public actions to reduce the effects of climate change.
Teach about biodiversity and how to protect it. Add more emphasis on biological diversity and ecosystems – the Pan-Canadian Framework suggests that this take place at the Grade 6 level. Specific concepts, such as indicator species, identification of native/introduced species should be woven through the curriculum. Students should learn how the relevant science can inform student action to slow the loss of biodiversity.
More emphasis on water and watersheds. Concepts pertaining to water need to be woven more consistently through the Program of Studies in a ‘spiraling curriculum’ model. Bring in concepts such as land stewardship and ecosystems, using ‘watershed’ as an organizing principle.
Strengthen outdoor education. Be more explicit around having children engage with the natural world. Teachers need to
hear the ‘Take ‘em outdoors!’ message loud and clear. Stakeholders encouraged a more prescriptive approach. Consider having a field component or field study for every topic, following the example of Manitoba’s curriculum.
Ensure the use of positive language. Do a scan of the document to ensure that environmental issues and content are all framed in a positive manner, emphasizing opportunities and ‘what you can do.’ For these sections, could include a ‘did you know’ section that helps debunk myths and misconceptions.
Consider us as a resource over the next few years. ACEE and other environmental education stakeholders recognize that teachers will be asked to add several elements to their ‘teaching toolkits:’
new curricular content
- finding and using new teaching resources
- familiarity with outdoor education
- facilitating students as they apply their learning to real-world situations
…Environmental education organizations are experts in this area; we ask that Alberta Education provide opportunities for us to help develop the ‘tools’ that teachers will need in their toolkits.
IMPORTANT: Stakeholders also noted a number of things they liked about the draft.
