SOFA

Check out Theatre Alberta’s website for an article on the proposed fine arts changes by Alberta Learning. 

You can access it by CLICKING HERE

Below is a reply recieved from a SOFA committee member from Eduction Minister Dave Hancock. Altough similar to the letter below, it raises some different points!

Dear Sam:

Your MLA, Heather Forsyth, forwarded to me your December 1, 2009 e-mail regarding the K–12 Arts Education Curriculum Framework – June 2009 Draft.  I am always happy to see students show such an interest in important issues, such as education.

I understand you met with the Arts Education curriculum managers at the Calgary Association of Parents and School Councils on November 18, 2009, and they addressed your questions.

I wish to address specific concerns in your e-mail.  The proposed changes to the Arts Education curriculum are summarized on the Fine Arts Updates Page on our website at www.education.alberta.ca/teachers/program/finearts/program-updates.aspx.  Click on Proposed Changes to the K–12 Fine Arts Programs of Study to see a chart that outlines what will remain the same and identifies proposed changes.  What is expected to remain the same includes the scope and sequence of skills for each arts discipline, along with the effective and promising practices currently found in Alberta’s classrooms.  The excellent programs enjoyed in our schools, such as ensemble band classes, are not expected to change.  As always, schools and school boards will be responsible for deciding which programs to retain when new curricula are implemented.  The purpose of this framework is to support and encourage effective arts programming, which may include performing ensembles.

The K–12 Arts Education Curriculum Framework – June 2009 Draft is not a program of studies.
It provides the philosophical foundation for programs of study in each arts discipline.  Future music programs of study will provide more detail regarding specific learning outcomes and suggested programs, such as performing ensembles.  However, the General Learning Outcomes given in the draft framework do include Connecting and Belonging (working as an ensemble) and Creating and Expressing (including performing).

With respect to teachers with specialized training in the arts, staffing for schools is the responsibility of school jurisdictions.  Small or isolated schools may be unable to recruit such teachers for a variety of reasons; therefore a new curriculum must be accessible to all who are responsible for instruction.  When new programs of study are developed, they are supported with learning and teaching resources, as well as professional development opportunities for teachers to support new program implementation.

The proposed program organization in the K–12 Arts Education Curriculum Framework – June 2009 Draft was developed as a response to requests for increased flexibility and variety.  The intent of the proposed single credit structure was to allow opportunities for schools to create programs to meet their needs by combining single credits.  In this way, schools could create groups of one-credit courses that would be similar to existing three- or five-credit courses, while adding new opportunities for all students to access the arts.  Distributed learning will also play a role by offering courses through the use of emerging technology, such as videoconferencing and digital resources.

We are working with post-secondary institutions to ensure students who wish to pursue career opportunities in arts education will have the required courses and credits to access these programs after Grade 12.  Representatives from Alberta’s post-secondary schools will continue to be involved in the curriculum development process, just as they have been involved in the creation of the Arts Education Framework, which is currently posted for feedback.

Two professors from the University of Calgary provided written text that contributed to the development of the draft framework.  Dr. Shelley Robinson conducted a literature review (Promising Practice and Core Learnings in Arts Education) and Dr. Robert Kelly’s work on creativity informed the development of the draft (there is a section on the creative process in the proposed framework).  His book appears in the bibliography section of the draft K–12 Arts Education Curriculum Framework.

After January 31, 2010, the K–12 Arts Education Curriculum Framework – June 2009 Draft and the Online Discussion Questions will be removed from Education’s website.  The draft will then undergo further revisions based on responses to the online discussion questions and responses gathered from e-mails, letters and face-to-face meetings.  All responses will be carefully considered during this revision.  Once the revision is complete, the document will again be posted online for stakeholder engagement.  We will then focus on beginning to develop programs of study, and we hope to begin implementation in 2014.

If you have further questions or concerns, please contact Susan McLeod, Curriculum Manager–Arts Education, Curriculum Sector, at 780-422-3217or by e-mail at Susan.McLeod@gov.ab.ca .  You could also contact Katherine Deren, Curriculum Manager–Arts Education, French and International Education Services, at 780-422-1988 or by e-mail at Katherine.Deren@gov.ab.ca.

Thank you for your interest in arts education.

Yours truly,

Dave Hancock, Q.C.

Minister of Education

The Cochrane Times recently featured a news article raising the issue of the proposed curriculum changes.

The article can be HERE

It is great to see that the media is still gettig involved!

ON NOVEMBER 27TH, 2009 LYLE BENNETT (SOFA CO-CHAIR) SENT A LETTER TO THE HONOURABLE DAVE HANCOCK, MINISTER OF EDUCATION.  YOU CAN VIEW LYLE’S LETTER IN ONE OF OUR PREVIOUS POSTS.   ON JANUARY 12TH, 2010, LYLE RECEIVED THE FOLLOWING LETTER FROM MR. HANCOCK:
Dear Mr. Bennett:

Thank you for your November 27, 2009 e-mail regarding the review of fine arts programs and your positive response to the Rationale, Vision, Guiding Principles and Creativity sections of the draft K–12 Arts Education Curriculum Framework (June 2009).  You stated that you feel there is a degree of inconsistency between these sections and the proposed program organization.

As you know, the draft K–12 Arts Education Curriculum Framework was posted online in September 2009 for all stakeholders to offer comments and suggestions.  Education’s intention is to create a proposed program organization based on the stated requirements of interested Albertans, especially students.  This includes flexibility and the option to build groups of courses that will develop skills.

In terms of next steps, after January 31, 2010, the draft document will undergo further revisions based on stakeholder feedback.  Once the K–12 Arts Education Curriculum Framework has been revised it will then be validated with stakeholders.  Programs of study for dance, drama, music and visual art will then be developed.  Resources to support the new curriculum will be acquired or developed and authorized.  As a final step, Education works with local consortia to ensure professional development support is available for teachers.  We have revised/extended our targeted implementation date for arts education to begin at the Kindergarten to Grade 6 level in the 2014/2015 school year, which will allow us extra time to complete this work.

In your e-mail, you outline a number of concerns with the draft framework, including what you see as an implied emphasis on generalist rather than specialist teachers for arts education.  There was certainly no intent to imply this.  Education’s role is to develop programs of study and authorize resources in consultation with stakeholders.  Each school division is responsible for determining how the programs of study are taught and for hiring staff based on specific qualifications.  School administrators designate teaching duties and assignments.  For various reasons, schools may be unable to access teachers who have specialized training in the arts.  In these cases, curriculum must be accessible to all who are responsible for instruction.

The scheduling of classes is completed by school administrators.  Since the single-credit courses proposed for high schools are meant to be combined, schools may retain current three- or five‑credit structures.  Schools will combine courses in ways that meet both their needs and the needs of their students.  The one-credit structure was proposed in response to educators who asked for the flexibility to provide all students with opportunities to access the arts.  You may be interested to know that there are no prerequisites or entry requirements stated in the current fine arts programs of study.  The junior and senior high music programs state that entry is at the discretion of school jurisdictions, and programs must remain flexible to accommodate a variety of student experiences and ability.

In the draft K–12 Arts Education Curriculum Framework, the General Learning Outcome of Connecting and Belonging specifically refers to experiences such as the teamwork required for performance of all types, including large ensembles.  It also means making connections with the community and with cultural groups.

I am pleased to hear that you met with Joan Engel, Director of Arts, Communication and Citizenship, Curriculum Sector, on December 3, 2009 and will continue to meet with staff on a regular basis during our curriculum development process for arts education.

Thank you again for taking the time to share your concerns.  I appreciate your input and interest in arts education.

Yours truly,

Dave Hancock, Q.C.
Minister of Education

cc:    Honourable Lindsay Blackett,  MLA, Calgary-North West

Art Johnson, MLA, Calgary-Hays

SOFA has put together a list of what the proposed changes mean and how they will impact students taking music, drama, dance, and visual arts education, listed below are our key concerns:

• The proposed framework seems to advocate fine arts generalists as opposed to specialists at elementary level; should advocate for specialists wherever possible.
• Generalists are often uncomfortable with teaching fine arts disciplines; this may water down arts experiences to a sampling of the arts, rather than real skills development.
• The nature of fine arts do not lend themselves to dabbling, and the development of skill sets and appreciation takes time.  A modular approach will provide only a token sampling of the arts experience.
• Fine arts require a sequential, skills building curriculum between kindergarten, elementary, junior and senior high schools to attain high level skills.  This is not what is proposed in the framework.
• The proposed flexible entry points will not provide the necessary sequential learning for success, and allow for entry into post-secondary arts programs (e.g.  University of Alberta, University of Calgary, etc.) if a student wants to further their education.
• The proposed multiple entry points with no pre-requisites will make effectively teaching students at widely varying levels of experience difficult or impossible.
• It appears to take an academic approach to fine arts education (music, drama, dance) and not necessarily a performance based approach.
• Alberta Education is suggesting offering exploratory courses, yet there are not enough qualified teachers or the financial resources to support such a curriculum.   Just a reminder, in 2009 the Alberta Government announced it was cutting the education budget by $80 Million, with more cutbacks in 2010.  For more information, CLICK HERE, or HERE.
• It is unclear what will happen to ‘locally developed courses’ (courses designed by local school boards to meet unique needs within their schools).
• It is unclear what will happen to performing ensembles in band, choir, drama, and dance programs.  These could be eliminated if ‘locally developed courses’ are eliminated.
• The intrinsic value of arts education will be lost if integrated into other subjects and used simply for academic gains.

Don’t miss this opportunity to tell Alberta Education how you feel!

Of the thousands of people who have now registered on our website, 482 of them have provided comments regarding the proposed changes to fine arts education.  Thank you very much for taking the time to passionately tell us how you feel about the proposed changes!

Because there are too many to post individually on our website (even though we tried to post them initially), we have downloaded all of their comments into a PDF document for you to view.

If any of the 482 registrants who wrote comments are concerned about their comment being posted, please send us an email to saveourfinearts@gmail.com and we will be happy to remove it.

WARNING:  Please note these comments are complete and unedited (swear words, names, and email addresses have been blacked out).  Several  comments contain graphic wording that you might find offensive.

If you are interested in what people have to say and you have time to read the 51 pages of comments from the 482 people who supplied them, CLICK HERE

Thank you very much to the thousands of parents, parents to be, grandparents, aunts, uncles, students, former students, future students, educators, retired educators, university professors, school administrators, guidance counsellors, entertainers, artists, dancers, choreographers, actors, playwrights, movie directors, sound mixers, stage managers, librarians, fine arts industry suppliers, booking agents, media, politicians, and even a Crown Prosecutor who have checked out our website and have now registered to join our SOFA movement.

We are now well represented in EVERY city and town (large and small) throughout Alberta.  We even have people who have registered on our website from outside Alberta, including Kelowna (BC), Invermere (BC), Saskatoon (SK), Winnipeg (MB), Toronto (ON), Vancouver (BC), Montreal (QC), Phoenix (AZ), Boston (MA), Georgetown (TX), and Sacremento (CA). 

Please continue to tell other parents, students, etc. about our website and ask them to get involved as well.

Within the next week, we will have some additional information to share, including an upcoming meeting in Calgary with representatives from Alberta Education who have agreed to attend and share their vision for fine arts education in Alberta.

SOFA COMMITTEE

On December 30th, the First Baptist Church in Downtown Calgary was the venue of a fantastic concert showcasing Calgary born Michael Hope and Stefanie Rose Airey.

The concert, featuring the two local musicians and friends, was held in support of SOFA, after Stefanie heard about the proposed changes from her Mom.

The evening was a great success. The concert featured music from Bach through to Mozart, and both Michael and Stefanie executed their musicianship excellently throughout the whole evening, singing along side a number of Calgary musicians. The whole concert was a pleasure to listen to, and the encore at the end was fabulous.

Stefanie and Michael both discussed SOFA right after the intermission. Together, they gave an exceptional speech that summed up the thoughts and concerns of many towards the proposed changes.

A SOFA committee member was also at the concert talking to people before the concert and during the intermission to answer any questions.

The SOFA committee would like to thank Stefanie and Michael, along with everyone else that made the concert possible, for their fantastic efforts into making the night a great succcess!