Curriculum advisers hand-picked by the Alberta government are recommending changes to the kindergarten-to-Grade 4 curriculum for fine arts and social studies that would eliminate all references to residential schools and “equity.” The advisers also recommend that seven- and eight-year-olds learn about feudalism, Chinese dynasties and Homer’s Odyssey in social studies classes. Curriculum experts familiar with the province’s process say the suggestions are a huge departure from where work was heading before the United Conservative Party was elected in 2019.

Some education experts also say the proposed changes are regressive, racist, unsupported by research and would put Alberta’s school curriculum vastly out of step with most of North America. Dwayne Donald, an associate professor of education at the University of Alberta, is an expert in Indigenous teaching and curriculum. He said he felt hopeful about the potential for the previously proposed elementary curriculum to better include Indigenous perspectives. The suggested changes erase all of that work, he said.