Alberta's Inspring Education

On June 2, Alberta Education released their Inspiring Education Steering Committee Report. This has been a long awaited document, as many teachers have waited in the balance to hear where the government plans to direct education.

Of course, the entire report was directed by Albertans, as they were asked to contribute their thoughts and feelings on the future of Alberta education. The democratic nature of Inspiring Education can be found in its subtitle - A dialogue with Albertans.

Through the Inspiring Education dialogue, Albertans articulated a vision for a 21st Century education:

• Engaged Thinker
• Ethical Citizen
• Entrepreneurial Spirit

To achieve these three essential outcomes for an educated Albertan of the 21st Century, transformational change with a bias for action and a tolerance for risk will be demanded from all stake-holders.

To achieve this, we need a shift in policy:

For this shift in policy, we need the following shift in governance policy:

So what does this all mean? Well, you need to read the report below, but here are a few points the minister made during the June 2 press conference:

• School Act will be written to be adaptable, less prescriptive and more of a framework
• learner-oriented as opposed to system-oriented
• Classrooms will focus less on content and more on competencies (less curriculum outcomes to distract students and teacher from real learning that is relevant to the learner)
• Assessment will shift from standardization of assessment to a focus on standards of assessment.