Inspiring Education
Inspiring Education was a six-month-long dialogue held with Albertans in 2009. What skills, attitudes and knowledge will our students need in 2029? The dialogue concluded in October 2009 with a summit in Edmonton. The Report of the Steering Committee was released on June 2, 2010. And on June 15, the Government responded with a discussion paper called Inspiring Action on Education. The Government is encouraging citizens to read the paper and then partake in the online discussion that will be facilitated in chunks over the summer months and into the early fall. The feedback provided in the six key areas will fuel the drafting of the Education Act to be tabled in the legislature in Winter 2011. The schedule for online participation is as follows:
- Parental and Community Engagement (June 15, 2010)
- Collaboration and Shared Governance (coming July 13, 2010)
- Learner Centered Education (coming August 3, 2010)
- Learning Environment (coming August 24, 2010)
- Teaching our Children (coming September 14, 2010)
- Competencies of an Educated Albertan (coming October 5, 2010)
You can access it all at http://engage.education.alberta.ca/.
Other thoughts about where the future of public education should lie and excellent lenses for the Inspiring Education report:
- The E4 Framework: The Essential Elements of Excellent Education for Alberta’s Public Schools. I encourage you to read through what the Public School Boards Association of Alberta has detailed as the essential elements for education no matter where you live in the province. How do the schools in your local community or neighbourhood stack up against this list of essentials? What would need to be part of the new Education Act to ensure that all children can access these elements? Be sure to take a look at the QUESTIONS at the back of the document, too.
- The PSBAA has a whole page devoted to thoughts about the new Education Act “in the works” and as well a number of other organizations submitted thoughts on possible revisions to the School Act.
- Here is another take… Alberta Schools – Principles for 21st Century Education (from Stephen Murgatroyd, Troy Media).
- And last but not least, here are the thoughts of 40 plus SW Edmontonians who participated in my “Let’s Talk the Future!” dialogue in May 2009.
Setting the Direction for Special Education
In June 2010, the Minister for Education released how the government will start to implement the 12 recommendations made in June 2009 by the Steering Committee. The focus is on curriculum, capacity building, and collaboration. (At Edmonton Public Schools, a large part of the Special Education Plan includes working out how the provincial directions will “go live” in our district. This work will be done by the administration in collaboration with parents and staff members who wish to contribute.)
Find out what students from across the province think about school, teachers, curriculum, citizenship …etc.! Students are invited to join the online conversation, attend a yearly conference, or apply to sit on the Minister of Education’s Student Advisory Council.
Other Resources & Links
- About Alberta’s Commission on Learning, its recommendations, and updates on progress. including a “five year retrospective report” by Chair Patricia MacKenzie, which was released in May 2009.
- Work on Improving High School Completion. The Research section is very interesting and includes the results of a Longitudinal Study on students who entered Grade 3 in 1995-96, the report on the government symposium held in Fall 2006 about how to improve high school completion rates and resources for holding a community discussion on this topic in your neighbourhoods (May 2007). Removing Barriers to High School Completion is also interesting (Alberta Learning, September 2001)
- I have received a number of questions about curriculum. Read an overview on Alberta’s centralized curriculum, and check out the implementation schedule for new curricula. Implementation often (but not always) means additional expenses in purchasing texts and resources as well as professional development. Some courses are developed locally in response to community needs. If you have a question, suggestion or comment on curriculum for Alberta Education, you call telephone Curriculum Inquiries (K-12) (EDUC) at 780 427-2984, fax the department at 780 422-3745, or emailcurric.contact@learning.gov.ab.ca
- Alberta Education, including The Renewed Funding Framework (Alberta Education), which directly impacts how much money the district has to allocate to schools and our students.
- Alberta School Boards Association
- Public School Boards of Alberta Association PSBAA offers a portal for the public to see what our MLAs are discussing when the Legislature is in session. The “Legislative Watch” page can be found at http://psbaa.wordpress.com/.
- Alberta Teachers’ Association
- Alberta School Councils Association
