Hidden curriculum

Hidden curriculum is an assortment of unwritten lessons and information that students learn in school. This information is communicated often indirectly through attitudes, policies, observations, and behaviors rather than by formal classroom teaching methods. The hidden curriculum is an inevitable feature of a school community brought about through the social interactions between people, particularly young people learning how to view and deal with the world around them. As such, all schools of every level demonstrate some form of hidden curriculum. The hidden curriculum may have a profound positive or negative effect on student learning and development, influencing students' views of themselves, their self-worth, other students, school attitudes and expectations, and the nature and values of various cultures.

Background

Schools and other educational institutions have been a part of human life for thousands of years. Most modern academic institutions offer an established written curriculum, or a course of study including various types of classes and lessons. A curriculum might focus on one field of learning or include many subjects, such as language arts, mathematics, social studies, and physical education. The written curriculum focuses on a school's academic offerings.

However, schools are also social institutions. Dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of students may be part of a school community on various levels, ranging from small cliques (groups of close friends) to classes to departments to the entire student body. Within this school community is a second system of learning that is unwritten and more social in nature than academic. This learning system is known by many as the hidden curriculum.

The idea of a hidden curriculum deals with information and lessons that students gain while in school that is outside the established written curriculum. The hidden curriculum may offer students lessons about how they should view themselves and others, and how they should interact with other students and teachers. The information and lessons may be transmitted in many ways. They may be shared through actions or words, including conversations, anecdotes, and rumors. They may also come from observations of other people and happenings in the school.

Many lessons available in the hidden curriculum vary from student to student. Although this curriculum is not graded, many students find it important to master the hidden curriculum to find personal and social success in their school years. Many of the lessons are helpful to students. They may help students make friends, learn to deal with social and academic demands, and make acceptable personal decisions. However, many lessons may have a strongly negative effect. They may foster prejudices or negative worldviews, create divisions or rivalries between students, or hamper students' academic progress.

Hidden curriculums can be mysterious, since they are unwritten, unofficial, and often dependent on the subjective experience of each student. However, they are very important. Many students focus on the hidden curriculum to search for social acceptance or academic improvement. In addition, a hidden curriculum can reveal the true nature of a school and school community. Although schools may have established written curriculums, as well as official public beliefs and policies, the hidden curriculum may more accurately demonstrate how the school actually operates and how its people truly feel and act.

Overview

The hidden curriculum of a school, unlike the written curriculum, may contain a limitless number of features that develop constantly. In modern times, people are just beginning to understand the profound effects of hidden curriculum on student learning and development. Its features may reflect or affect the academic lives of students; the nature of the school and its faculty and community; and even the broader attitudes of group, regional, national, or world cultures.

Some aspects of hidden curriculum may appear in the classroom directly alongside the written curriculum. For example, one feature of a hidden curriculum involves the perspective and approach of teachers toward class topics. A social studies teacher, for instance, may approach a history topic from numerous different perspectives that will change the way each student views the topic. The teacher might describe a war from the point of view of any of the warring sides, people who did not want to fight, or people who were affected by the fighting. In addition, the way a teacher conducts a class can add to the hidden curriculum. Some teachers value and reward student obedience to classroom rules. Other teachers focus more highly on student independence and creative thinking. Some teachers demand top performance from students, while others reward students for doing the bare minimum. The behaviors that teachers encourage or discourage will inevitably mold student learning and personal development.

The overall rules and structure of a school contribute greatly to the hidden curriculum. School rules affect students by showing what behaviors and attitudes will bring reward or punishment. Rules that enforce a strict dress code, for instance, will instill in students the idea that personal appearance is very valuable. Rules that may seem overly strict may even push students in the opposite direction, toward resentment and rebellion. The structure of a school affects student progress in similar ways. If certain groups of students are routinely placed in lower-level classes, or in less comfortable or poorly equipped classrooms, these students may develop a sense of lower self-worth that can affect them in many ways inside and outside of school. Sometimes the hidden curriculum shows the truth of a school community's attitudes, values, or behaviors much more accurately than the school's stated curriculum or any claims made to the public.

Finally, hidden curriculum may teach or reinforce numerous ideas pertaining to culture. Schools and their communities may take different perspectives on culture. Some may favor one culture, while others may strive for a more multicultural atmosphere. Students of a particular culture or group may be given more or less attention, opportunities, praise, or lenience than those representing other groups. These often subtle perspectives may mold student thinking on culture, creating lasting lessons on harmony or prejudice. It can also profoundly affect students who enjoy benefits or suffer disadvantages due to their own cultural backgrounds. Much of the cultural hidden curriculum arises from the student body itself, in which young people from different backgrounds try to find ways to deal with each other. Sometimes this results in healthy social behavior and other times in negative behavior such as bullying and unfair biases.

Bibliography

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