An Act to Remove Politics and Ideology from Classrooms and Amend the Education Act
…will require unbiased teaching devoid of statements on political, social or ideological matters and protect employees from participating in activities that infringe their beliefs while ensuring students can express their views freely.
“These changes strengthen accountability, reinforce neutrality and respect, and make it clear that politics and ideology have no place in Alberta classrooms,” said Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides in a statement Tuesday.
The province is also establishing requirements for displaying the Alberta and Canadian flags, the playing of the national anthem at least once a week and oversight in respect to what flags are displayed in schools in relation to Alberta’s heritage, school culture and activities.
Why the SKParty government hasn’t led the way on this is anyone’s guess. There is zero downside.
Will they be removing the ridiculous ‘land acknowledgements’ as well?
The province is also establishing requirements for displaying the…Canadian flags
I have my own requirement for hanging the Lieberal rag. It’s always flown upside-down.
Hopefully, on Oct 19th, we can remove them.
Canduhians are so profoundly stoopid, they cannot differentiate at times, between what
party/candidate l believe will win an election and which one is my preference.
‘l think X will win and this is why’
(outrage outrage) ?&%#&$?! why do you want them to win &$^$&##?!
l never said that. l just think they are going to, and lm batting about 800 on these predictions
^$^$*#?#&! well who do you want to win? $&#&@#&#$!@!?!
none of your business.
bunch of country bumpkins. ignorant hicks.
The Sask Party isn’t leading the way because Nanny Moe doesn’t want to close the door to future indoctrination in public schools. They’re no better than the degenerate leftists in the NDP or Unions, which is why moe and moe people are homeschooling in Saskatchewan or dropping out.
That’ll never, ever, happen until the school districts are made to fire all their teachers and rehire them after a thorough investigation of their lives. And no freaks, or leftist nut jobs are allowed in the children’s classrooms.
It sounds good but I am skeptical itcan be done. I teach history at the community college level. Teaching history that does not at least occasionally have political implications is impossible.
Everything is political. Everything.
The food, the water, the air that you breath has been politicized.
Politics is the Art of Getting what you Want.
You need to be clear and unambiguous about what you want, and then go get it.
“The province is also establishing requirements for displaying the Alberta and Canadian flags”
Flags are political symbols.
Make no mistake about it. Flags are not neutral.
Let’s stop pretending.
Whoa, I see a potentially huge downside (based off this blurb as I haven’t read the full thing; this is troubling enough):
“…will require unbiased teaching devoid of statements on political, social or ideological matters…”. “devoid of statements on political, social, or ideological matters”…
ALL statements on political, social, or ideological matters? Completely devoid???
While this may sound good on the surface, how pray tell is one to teach history (or even my favorite English) or even an Art History or Sciences class without bringing up the political, social (and that encompasses ideological) matters that are part and parcel of what makes those things? (going back to my beloved Austen; fun fact: she was an admirer of Edmund Burke…and his takes on both the American and French Revolutions are perhaps worthy of mention when approaching Austen’s works…and I wouldn’t be able to do so under the ‘teaching devoid of political, social, or ideological matters’).
The right will think that this protects them from leftism/wokeism/whatever new fresh hell coming from the regressives (this is a frequent trap that the right falls into I might add). The regressives will use this to strip the classroom of Western civilization, a Jahr Null that would make Mao proud.
Should probably be happy it didn’t pass and get back to the drawing board as to how to combat the regressives (personally, I believe sunlight is the best disinfectant: I encouraged my children to read Marx because I wanted them to know what he was about…I made sure they knew how to read first, and that may be the biggest hurdle here, children can’t read so they don’t understand, but they need to understand eventually).
I’d add a zero tolerance clause for teachers and school board members who try to impose their particular ideology on the classroom. A couple of firings a year would help reinforce that their job is education not indoctrination. K-12 is one place where a politics free zone can be justified. And yes sometimes politics will be discussed in the classroom but it must be presented in a neutral manner.
This Smith continues to impress.
The official Press Release is easily available and addresses many concerns mentioned here,
it’s also not as ‘vague’ as ATA president Jason pinko Schilling wishes;
https://www.alberta.ca/removing-politics-and-ideology-from-alberta-classrooms
… “ensure school authorities refrain from issuing statements or taking positions on political, social or ideological matters that are not relevant to fulfillment of the boards’ obligations under the Education Act”
… “clarify expectations in the Code of Professional Conduct for Teachers and Teacher Leaders to remain objective, present balanced perspectives and support students in expressing different viewpoints”
… “ensure provincial curriculum, programs of study and courses are fully implemented and continuously monitored to deliver high-quality, academically challenging instruction focused on academic rigor, intellectual integrity and essential knowledge”
… “require school board trustees who are seeking a nomination in a federal election or by-election to take an unpaid leave of absence, aligning with the requirements in the Alberta Election Act, and helping avoid potential conflicts of interest”
… “establish Ministerial oversight of new or renewed employment contracts for superintendents”
https://www.alberta.ca/system/files/ecc-bill-25-fact-sheet.pdf
ATA president Jason Schilling also didn’t read the Press Release.
… “While vague, this legislation may impact teachers and school leaders directly and indirectly, positively and negatively. We need to look beyond the clickbait title of this bill to understand its full scope; it has very little to do with politics and ideology, at least in the classroom.”