Jason Schilling

This is an excellent read on the realities teachers and students are facing in schools today.

This teacher’s superpower is dealing with the unexpected. She needs it | CBC News When CBC News surveyed Alberta teachers in January, many of them said what they wanted most was for a journalist to sit with them and see what teaching is actually like. Here’s what we saw: a complexity that’s often not dramatic, but a constant triaging of needs and, teachers say, an exhausting ...

Today’s response to the government’s announcement:

Alberta needs more teachers in our classrooms, and efforts to meet that goal can help address immediate staffing pressures. Expanding pathways into the profession must be a careful balancing act to ensure students continue to benefit from qualified, well-prepared teachers. It is essential that we have the most qualified teachers who have the skills, knowledge and preparation needed to be successful in today’s increasingly complex classrooms. Teachers are professionals and must remain so.

The Association has always advocated for maintaining these high standards. We were successful in ensuring that individuals entering through expedited pathways are required to complete prerequisite coursework and a practicum experience in Alberta schools before taking on full classroom responsibilities. These measures help ensure that new teachers are better prepared to meet the growing demands of the classroom.

Teachers are deeply committed to their students, but many are being pushed to their limits by growing class size, increasing classroom complexity and the loss of their charter rights. We can recruit new teachers, but we won’t retain them unless teaching and learning conditions improve. Recruitment opens the door, but retention keeps teachers in classrooms.

Many details related to the expedited pathways still need to be clarified, and the Association will be watching closely to ensure that implementation maintains high standards and truly supports both educators and students. The ATA will continue to support new teachers as they enter the profession, helping them build the expertise they need to succeed.

When educators are respected, supported and able to focus on teaching, everyone benefits.

You may have missed this article by Dr Dianne Gereluk. It's an excellent critique of the potential changes to teacher certification.

I copied the article below:

Opinion: Fast-tracking underqualified Alberta teachers puts education at risk
By Dianne Gereluk
Published Apr 13, 2026

When parents send their children to school, they trust that the person leading the classroom is a qualified teacher who understands how to teach, support diverse learners, and build safe, inclusive spaces. That trust is the foundation of Alberta’s education system.

That trust is now under threat. The provincial government’s plan to create expedited pathways into teaching, without requiring a bachelor of education degree, allows underqualified individuals with little to no experience to lead classrooms. In trying to respond quickly to teacher shortages, the province risks lowering the quality of education for every student.

At the same time, the province has announced billions in the latest budget for education, with little to no funding to prepare qualified certified teachers in degree programs. That disconnect sends a troubling message: that formal teacher education no longer matters.

Today’s classrooms are far more complex than they were a generation ago. Teachers support students with unique learning needs, different languages, and growing mental health challenges. They are able to do this because they not only learn how to adapt lessons, assess progress fairly, and work with families and specialists but also why those adaptations and assessments are needed to ensure the success of each child. Subject knowledge is only one part of the job. The ability to teach well is grounded in the central principle that every teacher must understand and nurture the unique learning and emotional needs of each child in the classroom.

Parents and communities should be concerned. Lowering the bar for teacher preparation undermines the quality of education our children receive. It is not good for students, and it is not good for Alberta’s future prosperity. Alberta’s education system fuels innovation, social well-being, and economic growth. Weakening it for convenience today risks long-term harm.

A bachelor of education degree is not red tape; it is a public safeguard. Weakening that standard risks flooding classrooms with under-prepared teachers who lack the training to manage complex learning environments. Parents should ask themselves: Would you trust an untrained person to treat your child’s medical needs? Why would we accept less when it comes to their education?

Creating an expedited pathway that does not require a bachelor of education degree to become a teacher might seem like a quick fix for teacher shortages, but evidence tells a different story. Jurisdictions that relax standards see higher turnover, less classroom stability, and poorer student outcomes. Every teacher that leaves the classroom within one to five years is a net loss to the province per year in salary, benefits, training, and supports. It further creates unnecessary disruptions to the children. Better investments in education programs would have a more impactful return on investment for the province if teachers stayed in the profession.

Alberta’s current system of teacher preparation already offers flexibility without compromising quality: community-based programs, online routes, after-degree options, faith-based, evening and weekend classes, and rural access points. Our bachelor of education programs reach all communities throughout the province and offer flexible ways to become certified, without compromising quality or the integrity of the teaching profession. What we need is targeted investment in teacher preparation and retention, not shortcuts that erode professional standards.