April 13, 2019
EDMONTON – Classroom education assistants are unsung heroes whose role and place in Alberta’s school system need to be enhanced, says Chris Alders, Green Party of Alberta candidate for Edmonton-City Centre.
Alders states that in many respects, education assistants are the proverbial glue that holds classrooms dynamics into place. “These individuals collectively play an integral role by collaborating with school administration and teachers alike to make our schools places of learning and community.”
The Green Party candidate would like to see province-wide qualifications established to enable education assistants obtain deeper training and standing within the overall education system.
Says Alders, “Specifically, the creation of a provincially-recognized program within accredited post-secondary institutions should be realized. Such a standardized approach could be put in place by representatives of inclusive education, human resources, and curriculum developers in post-secondary institutions. These suggestions were made in a recent article published in the Canadian Journal for Teacher Research and I support those findings.”
As Election Day nears, Alders also called for adding to the numbers of teachers in Alberta. “As your prospective Green Party MLA, I would advocate for the hiring of more teachers to account for the estimated 55,000 new students coming on board for the Fall term.”
From a mental health perspective, Alders wants to de-stress the classroom by “re-establishing funding for extracurricular sports, fine arts, and student clubs that encourage inclusiveness, creativity, fun, and personal growth.”
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For more information, please contact:
Chris Alders
Green Party of Alberta Candidate for Edmonton – City Centre
Email: chris@chrisalders.ca
Phone: 780-242-1621