Changes are coming to what Ontario’s youngest students will be learning in kindergarten, but not everyone is happy about it, prompting some experts to speak out.
The updated curriculum was set to roll out this fall, but the Ford government has now delayed it by one year. The move is meant to give educators more time to prepare, but some experts are raising concerns about how young children learn best.
The Ministry of Education says the updated curriculum puts a stronger emphasis on early reading, writing, and math skills, including the introduction to fractions, and adding and subtracting to 10. While it maintains play-based learning, some experts are raising concerns.
“My concern here is that we’re focusing more on that academic-based model again, and we’re kind of regressing, we’re not progressing. And so it concerns me deeply for children with this whole rigid approach and this explicit teaching approach where the 2016 kindergarten curriculum model was not that,” says Shelley Mehta, a childhood development professor at the University of Toronto. She worries a stronger academic focus could change the kindergarten classroom in ways that don’t align with how four-and five-year-olds learn best.
“We need to focus on their cognitive development, and that is really shown through play. It’s not shown through sitting at a desk, paper, pencil method, focusing on a lot more numeracy outcomes and literacy. It stresses children. It’s not culturally responsive. It’s not inclusive as a result.”
In a statement, the ministry says “the revised curriculum is being released months in advance, with additional resources and training coming in the new year to help educators prepare.”
However, the teacher’s union says that without proper training and support, changes can be difficult to implement in the classroom.
“The notion of having it early is important, but also the notion of having good quality work-embedded professional development is absolutely imperative,” said David Mastin, President of the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario. “We don’t see that in this rollout. There’s some webinars. There’s some, you know, go on your own time, go and listen to this. That’s not high-quality adult learning professional development that we expect.”
Some parents have mixed reactions to the changes.
“He really enjoyed it. He really enjoyed both JK and SK and seems to do really well from it, so it did us pretty well,” one parent tells CityNews.
“I think the previous curriculum was fine. I don’t know why they’re changing a lot of things in the school systems, really,” said another parent. “My kid was fine in kindergarten, but she’s leaving here this year. The kindergarten system worked great here for her.”
Training for teachers is expected to start in the new year. Whether the added time will address concerns from educators and child development experts remains to be seen.
