Abstract

In 2000, the province of Quebec launched a substantial curriculum reform combining a "back to basics" approach with progressive principles that drew some initial approval in the media. During its implementation, however, the reform became an increasingly contentious topic, culminating in the education minister publicly suggesting it was a failure less than a decade later. In order to identify and evaluate the leading sources of discord, this study looked at opinion statements about the curriculum reform appearing in The Montreal Gazette, and compared findings with the literature on educational change as well as key planning and policy documents. It found that discourse about the reform in The Gazette was largely negative in the years leading up to implementation at the elementary level, and pessimism intensified ahead of the later implementation at the secondary level, as did misinformation about the reform's principles and practices. Furthermore, many of the contested aspects were anticipated by the literature. At minimum, improved communication and collaboration seems necessary in order to nurture the dissemination of the new philosophy of education and the pedagogical practices it entails, and to prevent the reform from falling victim to premature perceptions that it has altogether failed.