Alberta wants neutrality in classrooms, but what if ‘viewpoints’ are lived experience?

Recent changes to Alberta’s education policies highlight ongoing debates about what can and cannot be taught in classrooms.

In announcing changes to Alberta’s approach to curriculum and learning in May, Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides issued a statement saying the province would “strengthen accountability, reinforce neutrality and respect and make it clear that politics and ideology have no place in Alberta classrooms.” At the same time, he emphasized teachers should continue to facilitate discussions involving diverse viewpoints, provided they are conducted “ objectively and impartially .” A suite of amendments were made to Alberta’s Education Act, including those aimed at clarifying “ expectations in the Code of Professional Conduct for Teachers and Teacher Leaders to remain objective, present balanced perspectives and support students in expressing different viewpoints.” This raises an important question for social studies education: what happens when so-called “viewpoints” in policy discourse are, in practice, lived stories and experiences? As educators whose combined expertise is concerned with the emotional weight of teaching social studies and fostering empathy and peacebuilding through meaningful dialogue and storytelling , we are concerned that “neutrality” does not remove politics from the classroom, but risks determining whose stories can be told and whose are left unheard .

The stories classrooms tell Research in anti-racist and culturally responsive education highlights that schooling is shaped by race, language and class .

Fostering students’ sense of being seen matters especially for students from marginalized populations who often describe not feeling welcomed in classes, or not seeing their experiences reflected in curriculum .

When students don’t see themselves reflected, it becomes more difficult for them to imagine future pathways into education or work.

These experiences shape both belonging and possibility.

Educators also have experiences that can affect their sense of school belonging.

They may experience racism or other forms of discrimination from staff, students, families or communities.

In some cases, educators’ identities and perspectives are treated as “political,” increasing scrutiny over their teaching.

Questions of belonging are closely tied to questions of voice and narrative.

Izzeddin Hawamda TEDxWinnipeg talk: ‘Wandering Home: Stories of Displacement and Belonging.’ Whose stories? The question of whose stories get to be told plays out in social studies classrooms across the country.

As a cornerstone of social studies education, the teaching of Canadian history in particular has been shaped by dominant national narratives that inform understandings of Canadian identity.