EDMONTON — Alberta Education has announced a new social studies module on independent oversight of policing, to be rolled out this fall and developed in close consultation with several agencies that are, at the time of writing, the subject of independent oversight.

The unit, titled Accountability And You, will teach Grade 9 students that Alberta's police watchdog exists to provide independent review when serious or sensitive questions arise about police conduct — a sentence students will be asked to memorize, recite, and then never see demonstrated.

"We want young Albertans to understand that no institution is above scrutiny," said a ministry spokesperson, pausing to clarify, "except for the specific ongoing matters we are not able to comment on, which is most of them, currently."

The curriculum reportedly includes a case study on a letter sent by police to Crown prosecutors, which students will analyze for tone, intent, and "appropriate channels." An accompanying worksheet asks pupils to identify the difference between offering professional context to prosecutors and influencing them, with the answer key marked 'pending investigation.'

Teachers have raised concerns that the practical portion of the unit — in which students were to observe a real oversight body completing a real review of a real complaint within a real timeframe — has been postponed to a date the ministry described only as "after."

The province defended the partnership, noting that having the watchdog and the watched co-author the lesson plan reflects Alberta's longstanding commitment to collaboration. "Who better to teach accountability," the spokesperson said, "than the people who keep finding themselves in need of it."