Over the last 10 years, I have seen a steady decline in the treatment of teachers, mainly in respect for the job we do. I say respect because if the education of children was important to the government, then we would not be fighting for a wage increase that compares to other provinces or a reduction in support for student needs.
As of this post, the Alberta Teachers Association has recommended teachers strike, leaving children and parents to find childcare to put pressure on the government to ACTUALLY CONTINUE bargaining with educators.
Despite this extreme step, the Alberta government continues to refuse acknowledgement of teacher’s main complaints, instead suggesting the union leadership does not understand its representatives.
Through covid, educators were deemed essential and brought back to work. Which I would consider a necessity in society for adults to continue working without the burden of childcare. However, without proper precautions as outlined by the Alberta Health Services teachers were forced into unsafe situations or to feel the ramifications if they did not comply. https://www.alberta.ca/coronavirus-info-for-albertans
Changes to Curriculum
Over recent years, the Alberta government has adjusted the curriculum within the province. The majority of these changes, while some updated information and/or aligned the growth of knowledge over time, seemed to expect HUGE learning jumps. For example, in Mathematics, by the end of grade 3 the curriculum expects students to have ALL basic facts memorized which is, in my opinion unrealistic for that age. Addition and subtraction are not even in the grade 4 curriculum so even if a child needed support in those areas the teacher would not be able to provide it according to the directive outlined in the curriculum. https://curriculum.learnalberta.ca/curriculum/en/s/math
While others, the social curriculum in particular, had to be scraped all together and reworked because the information focused on was irrelevant and inappropriate for the age groups it was aimed at. https://cha-shc.ca/teachers-learning-bl/albertas-curriculum-controversy/
Shift in Classroom Culture
Since starting to teach I have noticed a shift in the overall climate within the classroom, the government impact is one aspect of it but another is a change in how children are being raised at home. From year to year I have seen higher incidents of disrespect, students will outright refuse to listen, and struggle to behave within the expectations of a shared space. Along with a stronger pressure for teachers and administrations to solve issues of throughout the day without or as little parental intervention as possible.
Increase in Classroom Complexity
With a decrease in overall funding to schools had brought the reduction of support staff within the building. While some boards have separate facilities aimed to support students with extremely higher needs than what a classroom teacher should have to manage, other boards do not. There has also been an increase in classroom behaviours, ranging from extreme violence or a refusal to do any work. In some classrooms, not only could there be a student that regularly bites people, pulls hair or locks her grip on someone but also cyber bullying, students that revolts against authority, and perhaps another that enjoys pushing adults to their breaking point.
Increase in Class Sizes
Recently, we have had huge class sizes with government “guidelines” being completely ignored. I have heard numerous examples such as younger students that have 30+ students in the class all requiring support and guidance from their teacher. This year, above all others, has been the worst, with classes in grade 1 with 28 students, grade 2 with 30+, grade 4 and 5s with 40+ children.
