Curriculum Change and TeachBC: Learning Resources for the Revised Curriculum

The issue

Significant changes in curriculum and pedagogical practice are under way. One of the key elements for success of proposed changes is teachers having teaching resources that are linked to the curriculum and to formative assessments.                                                                                                                                

Background

TeachBC was created by the BCTF as a tool for teachers to share teaching resources that support the revised BC curriculum. Teachers need access to resources that fit with these changes, and not enough teaching resources currently exist.

Every day teachers develop resources as an ongoing part of their work, but sharing those resources is not easy. With the pressures of the classroom, little time can be invested in doing the editing and polishing of a resource so that it is ready for sharing online with colleagues.

In particular, teachers in content areas that are new or restructured require access to new resources. Who better to create the required resources than the BC teachers who are daily producing material for their classes? In the absence of sharing resources, the system is open for publishers like Pearson to define our content. TeachBC offers a Creative Commons approach to sharing of resources on a non-commercial basis. The Ministry of Education website on curriculum refers teachers to TeachBC as a source of the resources to support the curriculum and teachers should find the resources they need when they go to TeachBC.

It is ironic that ministries other than education often have substantial budgets for the development of curriculum resources, yet the Ministry of Education spends very little for the development of curriculum resources. What the Ministry does offer in grants goes generally to non-educators who bring a “special” project and get funded—often far from the types of resources needed.

The BCTF provides support now with staff who carry out the technical support for adding resources to the database, as well as some limited release time to polish and improve resources.