British Columbia Social Studies 10 curriculum vs. Saskatchewan Social Studies 10 curriculum

British Columbia curriculum for social studies 10 was redone and introduced in 2015 whereas Saskatchewan social studies 10 curriculum has been established since 1992. Through analyzing the two documents there appears to be numerous differences. One difference between the two curriculums is that BC social studies 10 incorporates a component about establishing a positive classroom climate whereas the 1992 curriculum does not. The positive classroom climate component in the BC curriculum puts a lot of emphasis on allowing students to be comfortable with each other before engaging in class discussions and encourages teachers to establish ground rules in how discussions will be practiced. I believe this component is important and should be implemented in the Saskatchewan social studies curriculum, as I believe that the best environment for learning is one where students’ feel comfortable to engage in.

Saskatchewan curriculum has a component for teaching controversial issues, a component that the BC curriculum does not have. The Saskatchewan curriculum’s component for teaching controversial issues advise teachers to be value free and objective in their teachings on controversial issues. Teachers are instructed to allow students to come up with their own opinions; however, the curriculum states that there are some fundamental morals and ethics in society that can be taught in a meaningful way. I think BC might have chosen to leave this out from their curriculum since the ethical teachers code in BC touches on this and therefore teaching objectively and letting students shape their own opinions on issues is an expectation for teaching any subject.

Another difference is the length between the two curriculums. Saskatchewan’s curriculum is 525 pages long whereas the BC curriculum is 33 pages long. Part of reason for such a substantial difference in length is because the Saskatchewan social studies 10 curriculum includes unit planning guide, lesson planning guide, Assessment strategies, etc. I believe whether this is a good addition to a curriculum or not is based on teacher preferences. I think some teachers would appreciate Saskatchewan’s curriculum and the way it offers unit plan outlines whereas some teachers would prefer BC style that is more brief and allows more autonomy for teachers to make their own lesson plan outlines.