News

Emma Elstad, a Grade 10 student at Dinsmore Composite School, has embraced the opportunity to make a statement through her artwork.

As a Visual Arts 20 student currently enrolled at the Sun West Distance Learning Centre, Emma was presented an inquiry assignment which invites students to select a human rights/social justice issue that they feel passionately about.

More than a year after our first COVID-19 case was detected, the power of social connections and peer influence still greatly impacts the landscape during the pandemic.

Our new normal now includes extraordinary working conditions for our teachers and students as they continue to face new challenges daily. As our province continues to monitor our reopening plan for Saskatchewan, what will our school systems start to feel like in the next school year?

As the whole fiasco in Alberta around radically proposed K-6 curriculum changes plays out, delegates to the Alberta Teachers’ Association Annual Representative Assembly voted 99 percent in favour of a non-confidence motion in Education Minister Adriana LaGrange.

Meanwhile, according to Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation Associate Executive Director Ian Krips, he is confident a quite different philosophy in Saskatchewan will not mirror how things have evolved in our neighbouring province.

The Alberta Teachers’ Association is calling for the Government of Alberta to stop all work on the piloting and implementation of the draft curriculum until an independent, open and full review and rewrite can occur.

The Association has published full-page ads in daily newspapers across Alberta to issue the call for a moratorium and to show support for school boards and teachers that decide not to participate in piloting.

Engagement is key to student learning and success. However, due to the significant and often traumatic disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, many students have become disconnected and disengaged from schooling and education despite the best efforts of staff.

The pandemic has also exacerbated the disengagement long experienced by students marginalized by the education system and by society. It is therefore more important than ever to focus on reconnecting and re-engaging with all students, whether you are teaching in person or remotely.