The Hidden Curriculum
That which is
implied by the very structure and nature of schools, much of what revolves
around daily or established routines. the "hidden curriculum," which
refers to the kinds of learning children derive from the very nature and
organizational design of the public school, as well as from the behaviors and
attitudes of teachers and administrators -Longstreet and Shane .
Hidden curriculum refers to the unwritten, unofficial,
and often unintended lessons, values, and perspectives that students learn in
school. While the “formal” curriculum consists
of the courses, lessons, and learning activities students participate in, as
well as the knowledge and skills educators intentionally teach to students, the
hidden curriculum consists of the unspoken or implicit academic, social, and
cultural messages that are communicated to students while they are in school.
The hidden-curriculum
concept is based on the recognition that students absorb lessons in school that
may or may not be part of the formal course of study—for example, how they
should interact with peers, teachers, and other adults; how they should
perceive different races, groups, or classes of people; or what ideas and
behaviors are considered acceptable or unacceptable. The hidden curriculum is
described as “hidden” because it is usually unacknowledged or unexamined by
students, educators, and the wider community. And because the values and
lessons reinforced by the hidden curriculum are often the accepted status quo,
it may be assumed that these “hidden” practices and messages don’t need to
change—even if they are contributing to undesirable behaviors and results,
whether it’s bullying, conflicts, or low graduation and college-enrollment
rates, for example.
It should be noted that
a hidden curriculum can reinforce the lessons of the formal curriculum, or it
can contradict the formal curriculum, revealing hypocrisies or inconsistencies
between a school’s stated mission, values, and convictions and what students
actually experience and learn while they are in school. For example, a school
may publicly claim in its mission
or vision statement that it’s committed to
ensuring that all students succeed academically, but a review of its
performance data may reveal significant racial or socioeconomic discrepancies
when it comes to test scores, graduation rates, and other measures of success.
And because what is not taught in
school can sometimes be as influential or formative as what is taught, the hidden curriculum also extends to
subject areas, values, and messages that are omitted from the formal curriculum
and ignored, overlooked, or disparaged by educators.
While the hidden
curriculum in any given school encompasses an enormous variety of potential
intellectual, social, cultural, and environmental factors—far too many to
extensively catalog here—the following examples will help to illustrate the
concept and how it might play out in schools:
·
Cultural values: The
values promoted by schools, educators, and peer groups, such as cliques, may
also convey hidden messages. For example, some schools may expect and reward
conformity while punishing nonconformity, whereas other schools might celebrate
and even encourage nonconformity. In one school, students may learn that
behaviors such as following the rules, acting in expected ways, and not
questioning adults are rewarded, while in other schools students learn that
personal expression, taking initiative, or questioning authority are valued and
rewarded behaviors. Similarly, if biased or prejudicial behaviors and
statements are tolerated in a school, students may embrace the values that are
accepted or modeled—either explicitly or implicitly—by adults and other
students.
·
Curricular topics: The
subjects that teachers choose for courses and lessons may convey different
ideological, cultural, or ethical messages. For example, the history of the
United States may be taught in a wide variety of ways using different
historical examples, themes, and perspectives. A teacher may choose to present
the history of the world or the United States from the perspective of the
European settlers and explorers, or she may choose to present it from the
perspective of displaced Native Americans or colonized African and Asian
peoples. In the first case, teaching American history from a strictly
Eurocentric perspective would likely minimize or ignore the history and
suffering of Native Americans (a common educational practice in past decades).
Curricular topics may also often intersect with, or be influenced by,
political, ideological, and moral differences that are broadly contentious in
American society—e.g., teaching evolution in science courses, multiculturalism
in social studies, or sex education in health courses.
·
Teaching strategies: The
way that schools and teachers choose to educate students can convey both
intentional and unintended messages. For example, if students earn good grades
or extra credit for turning in homework on time, listening attentively,
participating during class, raising their hands, and generally doing things
they are told to do, the students may learn that compliance is important and
that certain behaviors will be academically rewarded and allowed to compensate
for learning deficiencies. On the other hand, instructional strategies such
as project-based learning or community-based learning, to name
just two of many possible options, may communicate specific messages—for
example, that skills such as critical thinking and problem solving, and
attributes such as persistence, resourcefulness, and self-motivation, are
valued and important (in the case of project-based learning) or that being
informed about and involved in local issues are valued and important (in the
case of community-based learning).
·
School structures: The
way that a school or academic program is organized and operated can convey messages
to students. For example, if non-English-speaking students are
largely separated from their peers for most of the school day, or students with
physical or learning disabilities are enrolled in specialized programs that are
relegated to windowless classrooms in the basement, these organizational
decisions may have unintended effects on the students’ sense of cultural
belonging, self-worth, or academic potential. In addition, the structure of a
school program can also mirror or reinforce cultural biases or prejudices. For
example, students of color and students from lower-income households are often
disproportionately represented in lower-level courses, and special-education
programs may inadvertently reinforce some of the social stigmas that children
and adults with disabilities experience outside of school.
·
Institutional rules: The
formal rules in a school may communicate a wide variety of intentional and
unintentional messages to students. For example, some schools require students
to wear school uniforms, some ban certain types of attire (short skirts,
clothing with images and language considered to be inappropriate), and others
have very liberal or permissive clothing policies. While the intent of formal
school rules and policies is to tell students how they are expected to behave,
the degree to which they are enforced or unenforced, or the ways in which they
are enforced, may communicate messages the undermine or contradict their stated
intent. In this case, stricter dress-code policies may communicate that
students will be judged on appearances both inside and outside of school, while
looser policies might communicate that they will be judged on other qualities.
Reform
Generally speaking, the
concept of a hidden curriculum in schools has become more widely recognized,
discussed, and addressed by school leaders and educators in recent decades.
Ideas such as “white privilege,” equity, voice,
and multicultural education—to
name just a few—have arguably led to greater tolerance, understanding, and even
celebration of racial,cultural. physical, and cognitive differences in public
schools. In addition, school communities, educators, and
students are more likely than in past decades to actively and openly reflect on
or question their own assumptions, biases, and tendencies, either individually
or as a part of a formal school policy, program, or instructional activity. For
example, topics such a bullying and diversity are now regularly discussed in
public schools, and academic lessons, assignments, readings, and materials are
now more likely to include multicultural perspectives, topics, and examples.
Political and social pressures, including factors such as the increased
scrutiny that has resulted from online media and social networking, may also
contribute to greater awareness of unintended lessons and messages in schools.
For example, harmful, hurtful, or unhealthy student behaviors are now regularly
surfaced on social-networking sites such as Facebook or Twitter, which often
leads to greater awareness of student behaviors or social trends.
That said, a “hidden
curriculum” is, by nature, obscured or unacknowledged, which means that many of
its lessons and messages are difficult to perceive or measure for any number of
reasons. For example, long-standing policies may become so deeply embedded in a
school culture that people simply forget to question them, or a school faculty
that prides itself on celebrating multicultural diversity may find it
emotionally difficult to acknowledge and openly discuss behaviors that might
contradict that self-perceived identity. For this reason, every school
will always have some form of hidden curriculum.
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