Ontario teachers decry 'unrealistic' math curriculum rollout during pandemic

Ontarioteachers are denouncing what they describe as the botchedimplementation of the province's new math curriculum, saying they've had little guidance on material they're expected to teach in just a few weeks.

It would be a challenging task in the best of times, they said,but the uncertainty brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic has made it untenable.

"It just seems that our plans are not where they should be, andthe math is one more piece that hasn't really been properly prepared," said Karl Fernandes, a Grade 4 and 5 teacher at a Catholic school in Toronto.

"And of all the things that we have to tend to right now, a new math program seems to be the one that you could put pause on. And yet, we seem to be told, 'Just go right ahead."'

Fernandes said he has yet to receive formal training in thecurriculum. That will come during the three professional development days just before classes resume.

'Seems so unrealistic'

"As much as I'm looking forward to seeing more of this new mathprogram, the idea of being able to implement it properly and beprepared for it, it just seems so unrealistic," he said.

Ontario's Ministry of Education unveiled the much-hyped newcurriculum in late June, in Premier Doug Ford's latest move tobolster the floundering math scores that were a key talking point inhis 2018 election campaign.

The curriculum, part of a $200-million "back to basics" math strategy, incorporates learning to code, expanded learning on financial literacy, and a return to memorizing multiplication tables.

WATCH:Ontarioreleases 'back to basics' math curriculum

Ont. releases back to basics math curriculum

4 years ago

Duration 2:03

The Ontario government has unveiled a new "back to basics" elementary school math curriculum for September, which includes coding and personal finance. But some parents and teachers say launching it during the COVID-19 pandemic puts too much pressure on students and schools.

The government said students will also now only get one overallmark for math instead of separate marks for each strand.

A spokeswoman for Education Minister Stephen Lecce did not respond toa request for comment on the teachers' concerns, but pointed to the minister's announcement of curriculum details earlier in the summer, when he said the province "must take action immediately" to bolster math scores.

"I appreciate the broader challenge around us, but we must moveforward with these necessary reforms to give hope to these students that when they graduate they can aspire to get a good paying job,"Lecce said at the time.

"If we get this right today we canliterally change the course of the workforce."

Curriculum welcome to many buttiming not

But the head of theOntarioEnglish Catholic Teachers'Association said the province has been getting it wrong.

Liz Stuart said that while the union is happy to have a new curriculum, implementing such a change successfully takes "time, resources and supports" which she said the government has been slow to deliver.

Mary Reid, an expert in math curriculum at theOntarioInstitute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto, agreed.

"It's a really good curriculum, it is needed, and it's got some really excellent revisions to it that will support mathematics education for Grades 1 to 8," she said. "However, the timing of the implementation of this curriculum couldn't be worse."

She said teachers are rightly focused on health and safety boththat of their students, and their own.

'We're juggling a lot of balls now'

Reid said that for a curriculum to be effective, it must beproperly implemented, with ongoing training.

"The results could be a lot of struggles, because there's a lot of new content in the curriculum. There's going to be a lot of frustration, there's going to be an incoherent vision of math education."

Jeff Hackett, who teaches a Grade 7/8 split class in Windsor,Ont., said ideally, he would have liked to get training on this much earlier so he could consult with colleagues and math experts.