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The suggestion today by Minister Churchill that September will be back to 100% of the curriculum is very misleading. Altering classroom procedures can have profound effects on content. HOW a classroom is conducted determines WHAT can be taught and learned in that classroom. 1/
For example: Many, if not most, high school English classrooms have, either in whole or in part, moved away from the "assigned text" model of reading. 2/
Instead of "forcing" students to read books they have not chosen for themselves, many teachers have large and varied classroom libraries that students are encouraged to browse through and select their own texts. 3/
The teachers doing this have not gone rogue, they're doing this for solid pedagogical reasons that are both supported and encouraged by the Nova Scotia Department of Education. 4/
The idea of student choice of text is that if students are allowed to choose their own reading material, they will read more and learn to enjoy reading and may learn to continue to read beyond the school years. 5/
At the heart of this curriculum is students physically rooting through a classroom library. This practice, according to my reading of today's document release surrounding materials shared among students, may no longer be possible under COVID Protocols. 6/
Just in my own classes, this means that about 2/3 to 3/4 of the reading curriculum in 3 of the 4 courses I currently teach will no longer be usable. Curriculum will have to be scrapped. 7/
I do not for a moment question the rules surrounding shared materials. I honestly just resent the implication by the minister that going back to school in September means a return to "full curriculum." It clearly means no such thing. 8/
Aside from the loss of reading curriculum, I tweeted earlier about Speaking and Listening outcomes, which are about 1/3 of the curriculum in English Language Arts in NS. Many of those outcomes will be unattainable with the paltry social distancing expected in the classroom. 9/
There are important things that we expect students to learn that teachers will just be unable to teach under the new restrictions. It is unhelpful to suggest otherwise. 10/10
