NDP takes 'step backwards' in cutting credit requirements for new Manitoba teachers

Manitoba's NDP has made a serious miscalculation in cutting back the education requirements for new teachers, the Opposition Tories and a university mathematics professor say.

"I've advocated for better math education for Manitoba children for about 15 years now, and I will say this is probably the most alarming thing I've seen in that entire time," Anna Stokke, a University of Winnipeg mathematics professor, told reporters at the legislature on Wednesday.

Until the end of October, when the province made the changes, prospective teachers in the early and middle years streams needed to have six credit hours in each of the subjects of math, science, and languages (specifically, one of Canada's official languages). They also needed a combined six in history and geography courses.

As well, the need for all incoming teachers — at all levels — to specialize in one major and one minor from a list of so-called teachable subjects, has been dropped.

The math requirement stands out as the most significant concern, says Grant Jackson, the Progressive Conservative Party critic for education and early childhood learning.

"We know Manitoba has had persistently, stubbornly low success rates in terms of the ability of students graduating from our K-12 education system in the subject area of math. This is a major problem," he said.

"But this would result in teachers in the elementary and middle school streams that don't have any university education on how to teach mathematics."

Stokke helped to successfully petition Manitoba in 2015 to raise the mathematics requirement for teacher certification. University education students had been required to take one math course, but Stokke and her colleagues got that increased to two.

"We were concerned, at that time, that the math skills of the students we saw at university were incredibly weak — and they still are. We often see students show up at university unable to work with fractions. They sometimes can't calculate a per cent or know what a ratio means," she said.

"So it's extremely important that these students have to take some math beyond high school because they need to be able to teach [it]. And the people who are going to suffer here are the children."

Tracy Schmidt, who is acting education minister in the medical absence of Nello Altomare, said the changes will bring Manitoba in line with other provinces, and will remove barriers to help fill teacher shortages.

"We have unprecedented levels of uncertified teachers working in the province. We are seeing gaps in the province in meeting the demand for teachers, specifically in rural and northern communities," Schmidt told reporters at the legislature on Thursday.

The changes will "remove overly restrictive barriers," and lead to more teachers being certified to work in the province she said.

But Jackson wondered Wednesday why there wasn't an official announcement about the changes, if the government is so proud of them.

"The NDP … tried to slip this in as quietly as possible," he told reporters.

"I think that's frankly shameful that if they're going to make a government decision of this magnitude, they should probably send out a press release and be proud of the actions that they're taking."

Math courses don't necessarily mean better math teachers: prof

Martha Koch, an associate professor at the University of Manitoba, supports the "terrific" changes made by the NDP, and says any criticism is unfounded.

"There isn't research supporting that having those three or six credit hours in an undergrad math course results in better teachers in mathematics. It, in fact, sometimes results in worse teachers in early and middle years mathematics," she told CBC on Thursday.

"I know that's a counterintuitive idea, but it's a really important one. The argument that they need more undergrad math courses does not result in better teachers."

Undergrad math isn't always taught in a way that reflects current theories on how the subject should best unfold in K-12 classrooms, said Koch, who specializes in math education and educational assessment.

Students studying for their bachelor of education degree do — and will continue to — take math courses that prepare them in that way, she said.

Those classes train them in how to teach math, to think in the necessary concepts, which is not something they get in an undergrad class, she said.

But Stokke maintains the change is "a huge step backwards."

"It is regressive. It literally puts us with the weakest requirements for teachers in Canada," she said.

"They're removing barriers for adults to enter the teacher education program with literally no math skills. And they are going to create barriers for the students that they teach," she said. "This is off the backs of the children. I think it's unacceptable and I think it has to be reversed."

There is a growing issue with math anxiety among students in Canada's education systems but there is a clear cure for that, Stokke says: Give people good math instruction and make sure that people actually understand math.

"And if teachers have math anxiety, they can pass that on to their students, so the key is to get good teachers in the classroom who aren't afraid of math, who know math, who are comfortable with math and can explain it well," she said.

Schmidt's assertion the move aligns Manitoba with other provinces "could not be more factually incorrect," Jackson said. "I'm not sure where the minister is getting that information. It's deeply concerning that she's putting these comments on the record, because they're just not accurate."

However, a spokesperson with the province said it is Jackson who is mistaken: Only three jurisdictions have math credit requirements for K-8 certification — Quebec, Nova Scotia and British Columbia.

The latter is currently under review by the B.C. Teachers' Council, while Nova Scotia is working on legislative amendments to remove the requirements there, the spokesperson said in an email.

Saskatchewan and Newfoundland and Labrador have credit requirements in language but not math, while Ontario, Alberta, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island "have no regulated breadth requirements for K-8 teacher applicants," the spokesperson wrote.