New curriculum coming to Nunavut schools this fall
Kindergarten, Grade 1 teachers to take part in training starting March 17
Kugluktuk’s elementary school is seen in this file photo. Schools across the territory are set to implement a new kindergarten to Grade 6 curriculum, starting with kindergarten and Grade 1 this fall. (File photo by Dustin Patar)
Some Nunavut students will be learning from a new academic curriculum starting this fall.
Education Minister Pamela Gross announced the rollout of the territory’s new kindergarten to Grade 6 curriculum on March 11 at the legislative assembly.
“This is an important milestone in supporting the vision of our elementary education system,” Gross said.
“The content developed in the made-in-Nunavut curriculum will help ensure that what students learn in schools is reflective of and applicable to the lived experiences and realities of Nunavummiut and responsive to students, families and communities.”
The new curriculum has been in the works since 2018.
Its development included consultations with Inuit elders, educators, language specialists and knowledge keepers, Gross said, without going into detail about what’s in the new curriculum.
In a March 13 news release, though, she said it’s “about preserving and revitalizing Inuktut while equipping students with the skills they need to succeed academically and culturally.”
Kindergarten and Grade 1 students will be the first to learn from the rollout this fall, with the other grades joining later as part of a multi-year project, Gross said.
Before that happens, some teachers will begin learning the new curriculum starting Monday in Iqaluit.
“Among these documents, the supporting educator handbooks will provide teachers with curriculum-informed teaching methods, appropriate resources, materials and assessment tools, thematic weekly plans and hands-on teaching strategies,” Gross said in the release.
Following the rollout, the Government of Nunavut is looking to have a new kindergarten to Grade 12 curriculum implemented by 2036.
Yay, more days off for students, seems like teachers are getting more education training then students nowadays
Now we need more inuktut speaking teachers for Inuktut to survive. And make inuktitut mandatory in all early learning center. We just don’t have nearly enough inuktitut speaking educators. Hope to see more inuit joining the teaching field
Does this include a Inuktitut curriculum? I know the GN does not follow the education act and keep moving the deadline to implement the education act for Inuktitut which has deprive Inuit students needing to learn in Inuktitut. Has the GN improved on this?
The entire K to 6 curriculum is in Inuktitut and English. It will depend on the language of instruction model chosen by the community, but the curriculum in K to 6 can be taught entirely in Inuktitut if that is what the community decides to do. That means not only Inuktut language arts but all 11 subjects.
That’s great to hear! When did the department of education produce a Inuktitut curriculum? Just a few months ago as far as I know the GN still has not produced a Inuktitut curriculum for the teachers to use in our schools. If the GN has magically started and completed one in such a short time frame I would be amazed, beyond amazed.
It says in the article that they’ve been working on it since 2018…
This is for the English stream, replacing the Alberta curriculum that Nunavut has been using, there is still no Inuktitut curriculum with the department of education, not a priority for the GN.
What would change in the world if the GN announced tomorrow that Inuktitut instruction was mandatory from k – 12?
The only thing I can think of is it would open itself up to endless lawsuits.
Let us hope the new curriculum is not only “reflective of and applicable to the lived experiences and realities of Nunavummiut” but also prepares students to be functional and competitive in today’s world.
Remember individual communities will decide the level of the curriculum being taught and what it will be like year after year.
Choose your DEA members wisely on election day.
The GN should share this document. Where can we find it? If I want to read the curriculum of any province, it’s there, available online. People have been waiting for this for 25 years! If it’s done, share it. This is so important!