Academic finds segments of Alberta draft curriculum lifted without credit

A plagiarism expert says the Alberta government should review its entire draft elementary school curriculum after finding multiple instances of information cribbed without credit.

After receiving more than 100 messages citing samples of suspected plagiarism in the newly released curriculum documents, University of Calgary education professor Sarah Elaine Eaton said she felt compelled to look more closely at the material.

She analyzed three segments of the curriculum and found the wording closely resembled writing from other sources.

"I don't think this can be ignored because the curriculum as it stands lacks credibility in a variety of fronts," Eaton said. "Plagiarism is just one of them."

She said her findings are likely the tip of the iceberg of information included without citation.

In the legislature on Tuesday, Education Minister Adriana LaGrange said Alberta's curriculum documents don't cite their sources, and that she was "surprised" by the allegations of plagiarism.

"Hundreds of people have had a hand in drafting the new K-6 curriculum through a very transparent review process," LaGrange said. "This includes subject-matter experts, teachers and my department staff that have worked directly on the curriculum.

"I'm sure the member opposite does not want to accuse any of those people with plagiarism," LaGrange said of NDP education critic Sarah Hoffman.

The UCP government's proposed curriculum has also come under fire for including content in the younger grades that experts say is age-inappropriate and fixated on memorization rather than understanding.

The Métis Nation of Alberta and Confederacy of Treaty Six First Nations have also rejected the proposed curriculum, saying it perpetuates systemic racism and fails to present balanced and appropriate accounts of Indigenous histories.

After being inundated with samples of possible plagiarism, Eaton chose to inspect passages from the draft curriculum in Grade 2 wellness and Grade 6 social studies.

She found that a description of adventurous play for Grade 2 students closely resembled material on the North Vancouver Recreation Centre's website without being attributed.

A passage about the religious affiliations of Albertans was close to a Wikipedia page entry. Eaton said Wikipedia is not considered a valid academic source as the material can be edited by the public.

She found that another curricular outcome, about the differences between integration of newcomers to the U.S. and Canada, was lifted from a 1976 journal article, word for word.

The examples, in combination with reports of other suspected instances, should be enough to prompt the government to appoint a team to review all subjects and grades for uncredited copying, she said.

"This was not accidental plagiarism," Eaton said. "There's too much of it in this curriculum ... The people developing this curriculum should have known better."

She said it raises alarm bells that the draft curriculum was released without being fact-checked, or that anyone who may have raised concerns was dismissed.

Concerns first flagged on social media

Plagiarism accusations first surfaced on Twitter last week, alleging an entry in Grade 2 social studies was copied from Wikipedia.

All of the information the curriculum lists for Grade 2 students to learn about the Silk Road, including the years it was active, matches information in the first three paragraphs of Wikipedia's entry on the subject as the page appeared on Monday.

In an email last week, Education Minister Adriana LaGrange's press secretary Justin Marshall included the text of both passages and wrote, "Sure, some similar phrases but hardly a match."

Eaton said if the information was taken from Wikipedia but rephrased, the government should still cite its sources.

She said the proposed English language arts curriculum expects students to reference their sources and the same standards should apply to the government.

The minister's office did not respond to additional questions sent on Saturday, Sunday and Monday about Eaton's findings.

Plagiarism unacceptable for students

Parent Taylor Schroeter said the suspected plagiarism is yet another problem with a proposed curriculum she says is flawed.

Schroeter helps administer a Facebook group called "Albertans reject curriculum draft," which has garnered more than 32,000 members in the week since the documents were published.

Her children, who are in grades 2 and 3, know that copying someone else's work is wrong, she said. 

"This would be thrown out if it was an assignment that was submitted with plagiarism, so I think we should uphold our government to the same standard we uphold our elementary school children," Schroeter said.

Hoffman, the Opposition education critic, said the plagiarism concerns serve as further evidence of curriculum problems.

She said curriculum writers who work for the government have considerable expertise, but politicians interfered with the process by appointing unqualified advisers to make edits.

"They can put this on hold and stop trying to ram through something that is clearly a significant mess and a step backwards, not forwards," Hoffman said.

After the former Progressive Conservative government began work revamping the curriculum, the NDP government announced in 2016 it would rewrite curriculum for all grades and subjects in English and French at the same time — a first for Alberta.

The United Conservative Party alleged the NDP had put political ideology into the curriculum and pledged to review any work done so far.

After the 2019 election, the new government paused the process, selected advisers and redrafted all subjects.

Last Monday, the government published drafts of the proposed K-6 curriculum for public feedback. Virtual town halls are slated to run later this month.

The K-6 curriculum is supposed to be tested in some classrooms beginning in September. By fall 2022 the new curriculum will be mandatory in all elementary schools.