B.C. spending $1 million to fund new curriculum training for teachers

The provincial government has announced $1 million in new funding to train and educate teachers on new curriculum coming to B.C. classrooms.

The plan targets the curriculum of all elementary and high school grade levels, with a focus on enhancing their reading, writing and arithmetic skills and in the process teaching students collaboration, critical thinking and communication skills.

“In our changing world parents expect us to make sure kids have the skills they need to succeed,” said Minister of Education Mike Bernier in a statement. “The new curriculum was designed by teachers for teachers and these training supports will make sure they can bring the new curriculum to life in the classroom. It’s really encouraging to work collaboratively.”

The plan is to phase in the curriculum over the next three years for a full introduction during the 2017-18 school year. But teachers from Kindergarten to Grade 9 will have the option of implementing the curriculum beginning this year on a trial basis.

Training for teachers includes learning sessions, webinars, videos, extra time set aside over three years, and the dedication of two existing professional days to the new curriculum over the next two school years.

According to the B.C. Teachers’ Federation, over 100 teachers were involved in the process of designing the new curriculum.

For details on the new curriculum, see the government’s new dedicated website for the changes: https://curriculum.gov.bc.ca/