The following message was distributed to the education sector earlier this afternoon. For the past eighteen months, the education sector has engaged in many conversations about the future of learning in our province. The five year agreement between the Government of Alberta and the Alberta Teacher's Association, subsequently effected in part by collective agreements between school boards and ATA locals, created a clear time frame where work like Inspiring Education could happen without the...

Thank very much, President Henderson. I certainly appreciate the invitation to join you this morning, and the invitation to join you last night. I appreciated the opportunity to meet with so many of you and to have a chance to talk frankly about what's important to us in education. It is a pleasure to be here with you today with my Parliamentary Assistant, the member for Edmonton-Decore, Janice Sarich. If you have any tough...

Mr. Bhullar: Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Many of the world's leading educational thinkers believe that education systems around North America are systematically draining creativity out of our children by focusing on standardized curriculum, standardized instruction, and standardized testing. To the Minister of Education: what is your department doing to ensure our system is developing and building upon the natural ability and passion of our students? Mr. Hancock: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. A...

Ms Woo-Paw: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Statistics Canada is projecting rapid changes to our population over the next 20 years. Major growth areas would include the aboriginal population, and it's projected that about one-third of Canada's population would be a visible minority. Learning about effective integration and develop­ment of inclusive communities speaks to the need for two-way integration. My question is to the Minister of Education. You have initiated the Inspiring Education visioning process,...

Mr. Bhardwaj: Alberta Education appears to be moving away from separate schools for elementary students and junior high, or middle schools, and replacing them with larger K to 9 combined schools. My constituents are concerned that their younger children will not receive the attention they need in a larger facility. My questions are to the Minister of Education. What is the rationale behind combin­ing the schools?...

The Calgary Herald recently published an article misleadingly titled "Calgary-area school bids to save cafeteria" that goes well beyond the challenges of operating a rural high school to discuss several other current concerns about education in Alberta. The article also covers concerns about what the spring budget will mean for education (read more here), the Stop the Cuts campaign (read more here), Inspiring Education and Setting the Direction, a potential school closure (which is the...

Dr. Swann: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. With the government considering massive cuts, stakeholder groups have been speaking out for public education, only to receive a scolding by the Minister of Education. But teachers, school trustees, and parents are not to blame. They're not to blame for creating a climate of fear around education. The actions of the minister are creating a climate of fear. To the Premier. School boards and trustees are fighting for...

I want to thank those of you who have taken the time to write me about how you value education. I have always encouraged thoughtful advocacy for education and have no desire to ever discourage it, especially at this critical time. Indeed, over the past year, we have had several broad public discussions about the value and future of education (including Inspiring Education, Setting the Direction for Special Education, and Speak Out Alberta). We've...

This morning Minister Hancock spoke at the Fall General Meeting of the Alberta School Boards' Association. His remarks follow below (check against delivery). Thank you very much, Heather, and thank you for the invitation to speak with you again....

The Harvard Education Letter has a lengthy and provocative piece called "'Platooning' Instruction" that discusses the benefits and detriments of organizing elementary schools so that teachers specialize in particular subject areas, much as junior and senior high schools presently do. As Inspiring Education looks at the future of education in Alberta, this is a good example of the kind of bold change that could improve student outcomes without requiring major new spending....

Today's Edmonton Journal has a great editorial about Inspiring Education called "We must get the big picture right in Alberta's classrooms." It describes the essential importance of focusing on the future of education despite whatever other challenges we may presently be facing. Two documents cited in the article have been considered extensively by both the Steering Committee (composed of Albertans who have wide perspectives, but no one particular focus on education) and the Working Committee...

Mr. Chase: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Inspiring education? Mr. Minister, your do-as-I-say-not-as-I-do government spent millions of taxpayer dollars on a feel-good travelling public relations road show entitled Inspiring Education. You spent thousands more on self congratulatory Success by 6 newspaper ads. The hypocritical actions of your ministry have more to do with conspiring than inspiring. Do you expect students, parents, teachers, or trustees to be inspired by your first round of $80 million cutbacks to...

The following message was sent by Minister Hancock to education stakeholders this afternoon. Since the end of August, we have talked very openly about some of the very difficult fiscal challenges facing Alberta over the next few years, and this evening Premier Stelmach will talk about the future of our province. In this message, I want to speak to our short and long-term challenges and opportunities. To address our immediate pressures, I informed school jurisdictions...

Minister Hancock spoke today at the Alberta Teachers' Association's 92nd Annual Representative Assembly. Excerpts of his remarks are reproduced below. Thank you very much for your kind invitation and warm welcome. And I want to start, Frank, by saying thank you to you. It's been a pleasure working with you over the past year for the good of education in the province. And I have to say more than the past year, because actually we've...

With the community conversations of Inspiring Education beginning in only a couple of weeks, we're about to kick off the next phase of a sustained discussion about the future of education in Alberta. Converge Magazine has a timely piece called "Languages in 2020" that looks at the benefits of learning a second language — particularly immersive learning....

A blog called "Catalytic Conversations" has an interesting and thought-provoking post called "We Want YOU . . . to Learn: The Education Imperatives". The blogger writes that there are three reasons that education exists — for the individual, for the community, and for the country. Exploring the purposes of education is one of the tasks currently being undertaken by Alberta Education's Inspiring Education project. What do you think? Why do we educate our students, and...

It was exciting to publicly launch the Inspiring Education Dialogue this week!  I truly believe that this can be a pivotal opportunity for our province.  Nothing is more fundamental to the future of Alberta and its citizens than education!  While we have, as Gary Mar used to say, "A good education system which is sometimes great", what we need going forward is an education system which ensures that every Albertan has the opportunity to maximize...

Mr. Fawcett: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Earlier today the Minister of Education announced a number of ways in which citizens of this province can participate in Inspiring Education: A Dialogue with Albertans. In addition to daylong sessions around the province, Albertans can also join the conversation online or use conversation kits to host a discussion in their own community. My question is to the Minister of Education. What is he doing to ensure that disadvantaged...

The following is excerpted from Alberta Hansard on the afternoon of March 10. Mr. Amery: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In 1995 as a strategy to improve education, the Alberta government introduced charter schools. Each of these schools, of which there are 12 in Alberta, has a unique charter mandate providing innovation and choice to parents in our education system, but because of the charter terms these schools have no guarantee that their charter will be...

As part of its 21st Century EdTech Spotlight on Alberta, the MindShare Learning Report, an online educational technology magazine, did an interview with Minister Hancock to discuss where technology and education are headed in Alberta.Among the topics discussed are the Minister's participation in the Learning and Technology World Forum in London in January 2009, the importance of leadership in school technology use, trends and funding for information and communications technology, and the changing role of teachers in...