By Canadian Press

Parts of Alberta’s draft school curriculum plagiarized, academic finds

Apr 6, 2021 | 1:38 PM

CALGARY — An expert in plagiarism says parts of Alberta’s proposed curriculum for kindergarten and elementary schoolchildren were copied from other sources without credit.

Sarah Elaine Eaton, a professor at the University of Calgary’s Werklund School of Education, says her inbox was flooded after the draft curriculum was released last week from teachers who worried much of it was plagiarized.

Eaton says there were many examples on social media of material lifted without credit, but she focused on parts of the document that weren’t as scrutinized online.

She says she analyzed three parts of the curriculum and found that one segment was “cut and paste” plagiarism from an academic article from 1976.

The academic also says the Grade 2 physical education curriculum was copied from a Vancouver recreation centre’s website and the Grade 6 social science curriculum lead to Wikipedia.

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Alberta’s Ministry of Education did not immediately provide a comment.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 6, 2021.

The Canadian Press