BC’s Curriculum Demands Too Much of Teachers
Last week’s blog, which praised the BC Ministry of Education for leading the development of K-4 Progressions in Literacy and Numeracy, prompted a parent of a Grade 10 student to ask for further clarification about my concern regarding the absence of a coherent scope and sequence (progression) in BC’s curriculum and its implications for student learning. The family had moved between Grades 9 and 10, and their son was now discovering that some of his teachers were repeating material that had already been covered in his Grade 9 classes.
A scope and sequence outlines the content and skills to be taught (scope) and the order in which they will be covered (sequence) across grade levels. When well developed, it provides coherence by imposing a logical structure that helps prevent gaps or unnecessary repetition. This framework maintains consistency, ensuring that students meet required learning outcomes. It also helps teachers to adapt instruction to diverse student needs (differentiation of instruction). A well-designed scope and sequence also establishes clear standards for evaluating student progress. For teachers, a scope and sequence is an indispensable planning tool.
The 2016 BC curriculum emphasizes inquiry-based learning and student-driven exploration across subjects, intending to foster critical thinking, creativity, and real-world connections. The curriculum grants significant discretion to teachers regarding how and when content is taught. While this flexibility supports personalized and context-specific teaching, it diminishes consistency and equity.
A major challenge is variability in content delivery. The curriculum’s open-ended design allows for considerable interpretive latitude among classroom teachers, which can lead to differences in the depth and breadth of topic coverage. For example, in kindergarten, one teacher might emphasize "repeating patterns," while another focuses on "change in quantity." These differing priorities can and often do result in uneven foundational skills, affecting student progression through the grades.
Students transitioning between schools or districts may face inconsistent learning experiences. Without an established sequence of topics, students could either repeat material they have already mastered or miss critical content altogether. A Grade 1 student proficient in "number concepts to 20" might revisit this topic in a new school instead of advancing to "addition and subtraction to 20."
This variability poses challenges for teachers trying to plan lessons that build on prior knowledge while introducing new material. Without a scope and sequence, teachers lack an established frame of reference for determining what students are expected to know and do. The absence of such a framework can lead to gaps that accumulate over time, impeding smooth academic progression.
Comprehensive teacher preparation is essential for developing content knowledge and pedagogical skills. Teachers must be equipped to address learning gaps caused by prior inconsistencies. However, as currently designed, the BC curriculum places high expectations on teachers to act as both content experts and facilitators of inquiry-based learning. Achieving success under this model requires deep subject knowledge, innovative teaching strategies, and adaptability to diverse classroom contexts. Unfortunately, the necessary teacher preparation to support such a curriculum has not been adequately established, putting BC’s students at a considerable disadvantage.
If widely adopted, the recently introduced K-4 Progressions will help address the idiosyncratic instructional decisions that the current curriculum demands of teachers—at least from kindergarten to Grade 4. I hope that the Ministry continues to lead the development of curriculum progressions in numeracy and literacy as well as in other subjects in which the content and skills to be taught (scope) and the order in which they will be covered (sequence) is necessary for successful progression from one grade to another.