Ep. 5 - Not-so-new redesigned BC curriculum

The BC Curriculum was redesigned in 2016 to respond to the technology-rich world we live in today, where communication is instant, and information is immediately accessible. The way we interact with each other personally, socially, and at work has changed and the redesigned curriculum teaches children to respond to this new demanding world. The way kids learn today is very different than the way their parents learned when they were in school. No longer do we need to memorize the timetable or remember an encyclopedia of facts. There’s a calculator and Google for that. The shift in today’s education focuses on concepts instead of content, on how to learn rather than what is learned, and on developing critical thinking skills in place of memorization. This month on the podcast, we speak to Annie Kwong and Nancy Fulton, two secondary teachers, as well as Sandra Fox and Fransoise Renne, two elementary teachers. They walk us though the redesigned curriculum and how students are learning in classrooms. For Matter of the Month, we look into the District’s decision to continue the semester model with an increase in Flexible Instructional Time (FIT) for all secondary students. We hear from educators Alison Ogden and Rick Lopez, who are Directors of Instruction, as well as senior secondary students Susan Kiconco and Edison Hui.