B. Curriculum
1. There should be consultative permanent staff at the Department of Education so that all programs can receive ongoing review and development.
2. There should be provision and opportunity for secondment of personnel from the field on a one- or two-year basis to meet specific needs that arise.
3. A Provincial Curriculum Board should be established to facilitate, coordinate, and promote curriculum development throughout the province. This board will consist of representatives from the Newfoundland and Labrador Teachers’ Association, the Department of Education, the School Boards’ Association, MUN and the Newfoundland and Labrador Federation of School Councils. [Apr/2-3&5/08] [JC Apr/08] [2009 BGM]
4. There should be current curriculum guides for all subject areas. Hard (paper) copies of all curriculum guides, in a binder format, should be available at the school level. When curriculum guides are being updated during a school year, the updates must be provided to classroom teachers in hard copy. Included in the curriculum guides would be the following:
a) Philosophy and rationale.
b) Clearly defined curriculum outcomes, correlated with the resources prescribed and mode available by the Department of Education.
c) Scope and sequence chart of performance expectations.
d) Course descriptions.
e) Suggested techniques and procedures for authentic student assessment. [Apr/2-3&5/08] [JC Apr/08] [2009 BGM] [Oct/23&25/14] [2015 BGM]
5. There should be developed at the provincial level suitable instruments for ongoing evaluation of existing and new programs which will include feedback from all stakeholders. Evaluation information should be gathered at least every two years to allow opportunities for updates to curriculum documents. [Nov/3/22]
6. Government, in cooperation with NLTA and school boards, should provide ways and means of identifying teachers who have expertise and who wish to be involved in program development.
7. Teachers working on Department committees should receive some professional recognition for their services, e.g. formal acknowledgement with a copy provided to the applicable school principal and district program specialist. In no way should a teacher on a Committee be negatively affected because of their involvement (e.g. loss of P.D. days, etc.) [Oct/23&25/14] [2015 BGM]
8. The Department of Education should provide total funding for inservicing all new programs implemented by the Department.
9. The duties of program specialists at the district level should be consistently defined from region to region.
10. Special ministerial leave should be granted to teachers who are involved with implementation of new programs at the district level.
11. When new curriculum and programs are introduced by the Department of Education for new courses, teachers should not be required to teach such courses until the appropriate prescribed and supplementary student and teacher resources are on site at schools, teachers are inserviced, and other applicable materials are made available. [Dec/4-5/86] [Apr/2- 3&5/08] [JC Apr/08] [2009 BGM] [Oct/23&25/14] [2015 BGM]
12. a) Significant curriculum change (i.e. change requiring ideologically different teaching and assessment techniques) should be introduced to teachers at least one academic year before classroom implementation.
b) New curriculum and program initiatives should not be implemented until the Department of Education provides adequate personnel, resources, finances, and time for the explanation of the rationale and need for the curriculum change, overview of the pedagogical implications of the change, opportunities to experience the new teaching techniques demonstrated in the typical classroom setting, opportunity to practice the new techniques in a classroom setting and the opportunity to receive collaborative feedback on practice utilization. [Nov/22-23/89] [1990 AGM] [Jan/8-9/99]
c) New curriculum and programs can only be implemented when the necessary resources are provided. [Jan/8-9/99]
13. The Curriculum Committee of NLTA shall develop or coordinate the development of position papers on curriculum issues as the need arises. [Jan/8-9/99]
14. To achieve effective curriculum implementation:
a) The Department of Education will have a program development specialist for the following areas – career education, distance education, enterprise education, fine arts, health/home economics, English language arts, mathematics, modern languages, religious education, science, social studies, physical education, art, economic education, English as a second language, family studies, music, skilled trades and technology education. In addition, program development specialists will be allocated in early childhood/primary, elementary, intermediate, senior high, and school development as well as in student support services to work directly with the district program implementation specialists. [Oct/23&25/14] [2015 BGM]
b) A mechanism should be established to allow teachers to share best practices and explore the various media by which this can be accomplished, taking into account any new technologies. [Apr/2-3&5/08] [JC Apr/08] [2009 BGM]
c) All regions of the districts will pilot new programs and program implementation specialists will receive copies of all program development documents and pilot resources.
d) With teacher consent, a pilot program may include all classes when the piloting school has more than one stream at the grade level of the pilot. [Oct/23&25/14] [2015 BGM]
e) The Department of Education, in consultation with the districts, will make days available for induction of new teachers, and for inservice or mentoring programs for teachers new to courses.
f) Curriculum implementation will be integrated into teacher/school/district professional growth and improvement plans.
g) There will be at least three meetings per year between program implementation specialists and Department of Education personnel to discuss curriculum implementation issues.
h) The Department of Education, school districts, NLTA, and Memorial University’s Faculty of Education will collaborate on developing a strategic plan for program implementation, and will coordinate implementation of new programs.
i) Professional development needs for teachers must be addressed beyond initial curriculum implementation as a means of ongoing support for issues that are related to the new curriculum.
j) Financial resources should be provided to Department of Education program development specialists so that they can actively participate in program implementation at the district level.
k) A process of curriculum program review will be established and maintained to ensure programs are current and reflective of best practice. [Apr/6-7/00] [JC Oct/00] [2001 BGM]
