COLUMN: Think Again – NDP government can’t even get science right

Science is one of the most important subjects taught in school. Without a reasonable grasp of basic scientific concepts, it’s tough to make sense of the world around us.

However, science changes over time. That’s why it makes sense to update curriculum guides so that they contain the latest information. What doesn’t make sense is mandating a new science curriculum that is confusing to teachers and lacks proper learning resources.

This fall, all Manitoba schools will be required to implement a new K-10 science curriculum. Unfortunately, instead of being more precise and accurate than the current curriculum, the new curriculum documents are surprisingly vague.

For example, instead of categorizing topics in different grade levels by themes such as electricity, forces, the senses, and the solar system, the new curriculum repeats the same five strands each year: Indigenous peoples within the natural world, science identity, practical science, nature of science; and scientific knowledge.

If this sounds confusing to you, you aren’t alone. While it makes sense for students to gain a big picture understanding about science, the details matter too. Science is a subject where we cannot afford to get these details wrong.

According to a recent Winnipeg Free Press article, the old science curriculum was built on a hierarchical framework that emphasized the importance of memorization. In contrast, the new curriculum moves away from memorization and focuses on big picture thinking instead. This shift is concerning for multiple reasons.

First, it goes against the overwhelming evidence that subject-specific content knowledge is foundational to reading comprehension. If we want students to understand what they read, they need to have background knowledge about the topic at hand. This is particularly true when reading scientific articles and books since these materials assume that readers have a basic grasp of the fundamentals.

This doesn’t mean that memorization is the only thing that matters in science. Obviously, students need to conduct experiments, debate new ideas, and think critically about new scientific proposals. However, none of this is going to happen if the foundational knowledge and skills aren’t in place. Students can’t think critically about something they know nothing about.

It’s also concerning that the new curriculum documents appear to be missing key scientific concepts. For example, the same Free Press article notes that the new Grade 10 curriculum document omits, “fundamental concepts such as acids and bases and chemical compound naming.” Anyone who took chemistry in Grades 11 and 12 knows just how big of an omission this is.

To make things even worse, the province isn’t providing teachers with the resources they need to properly implement the new curriculum. There are no recommended textbooks to accompany the curriculum, nor are there any learning guides containing sample questions and assignments. Teachers are being left on their own to try to figure things out.

The Manitoba Teachers’ Society has raised significant concerns about how the new science curriculum is being rolled out. President Lillian Klausen pointed out that teachers aren’t being provided with the professional development sessions they need to understand the new curriculum, nor do they feel they have the necessary resources to implement it properly.

To date, Education Minister Tracy Schmidt has stood behind the new science curriculum and refuses to budge on mandatory implementation this fall. This indicates that Schmidt is more interested in listening to the bureaucrats in her department than in hearing concerns from professional teachers.

For a government that claims to respect teachers, it’s unfortunate that Schmidt isn’t listening to their concerns right now. Science is an important subject, and it’s important that it be taught properly in school.

Michael Zwaagstra is a teacher and deputy mayor of Steinbach. He can be reached at mzwaagstra@shaw.ca.