Transcript The Hidden Curriculum

ASSESSING THE HIDDEN
CURRICULUM
Heather Cole
Michigan State University
December 10, 2012
TABLE OF CONTENTS
 What is Hidden Curriculum?
 Research on Hidden Curriculum
 Examples of Hidden Curriculum
 “Tracking” and Hidden Curriculum
 Hidden Curriculum in my School
 How to Change the Culture in Schools
WHAT IS A HIDDEN
CURRICULUM?
As Anyon describes, “many important civic conceptswhat power and authority are, how one should behave,
who people are, what gender, class and culture mean- are
learned most powerfully through the hidden curricula
and through the conventions and assumptions imbedded
in language and culture.”
RESEARCH ON HIDDEN
CURRICULUM
 Even with the inequity between schools it is possible for a working
class school to have an elite curriculum. As Anyon mentions, I think
it is easy for, “the very choice of school knowledge, the act of
designing school environments, though they may not be done
consciously, are often based on ideological and economic
presuppositions which provide commonsense rules for educators’
thought and action” (Anyon, p. 46).
EXAMPLES OF HIDDEN
CURRICULUM
Low Income
Schools
Middle Class
Schools
Upper Class
Schools
Value
obedience/following
rules
Importance of
getting the right
answer
Work carried out
independently
Rote behavior
Heavy use of
textbook3
Analytical emphasis
SOCIALIZATION
 Within the school framework, “the use of praise, the rules of
access to materials and the control of time and emotions all make
significant contributions to the teaching of social meanings in school”
(Apple & King, p. 51). The way that students are taught to interact
with peers and adults differs by school often based on income.
EXAMPLES
 Often, “(t)he culture of dominant society tends to be
institutionalized and reproduced” (Heilman 2011). Heilman
references the fact that those that benefit most from the hidden
curriculum are the upper class students who as she mentions, are
most likely to be taught critical thinking and problem solving skills.
“Tracking” and Hidden
Cur riculum
 “tracking” should not limit students that may not be as advanced
academically but have the desire to do well.
 I think tracking can become an issue when it is used to divide
students rather than challenge them. If students are placed based on
preference then ability, different courses can be challenging for
different students
HIDDEN CURRICULUM IN
MY SCHOOL
 Working Class School
 Most staff is highly supportive
 Some believe our students will not go to college
 Importance of high expectations for our students.
 Students need to hear the adults in their lives encourage them and
tell them they can do anything they set out to.
MY SCHOOL
Teacher
Expectations
Teacher
support
Student
Achievement
Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs
HOW TO CHANGE THE
CULTURE IN SCHOOLS

Within this negative connotation of hidden curriculum I
believe there is room for change. Since so many of the articles I read on
the subject of hidden curriculum talked about the adults in the students
lives, parents, teachers and community members, and how they directly
influenced students perceptions of school and their options for the
future. If a community and it’s parents and teachers exude positive
expectations and model positive behavior, this will be reflected by the
students.
REFERENCES
 Anyon, J. (1980). Social class and the hidden curriculum of work.
Journal of Education, 162(1),

Apple, M., & King, N. (1990). Economics and control in everyday school life. Ideology
and curriculum ,New York: Routledge
 Heilman, E. (2009). Seeing the hidden curricula of social spaces and places. Social
studies and diversity education: What we do and why we do it. New York: Routledge.

Jackson, P. (1968). The daily grind. Life in Classrooms,New York: Teachers College
Press (original)