The Implicit Hidden Curriculum
The Implicit Hidden Curriculum
What it is
- The values and norms set by society and the school’s culture.
- More about the “where” of education than the “what”.
- Informal, unintentional teaching of behaviours, attitudes, and perspectives.
What learners absorb
- How to form opinions about their environment and classmates.
- How to act in appropriate ways at school and on the playground.
- Ideas about gender, morals, social class, stereotypes, culture, politics, and language.
How it works
- Not taught formally; absorbed by observing and taking part, in and out of class.
The most powerful curriculum in a school is often the one no one writes down. The implicit curriculum, also called the covert or hidden curriculum, is the set of values and norms that learners pick up simply by being there. It is set by society and by the culture of the school, and it teaches lessons the syllabus never mentions.
What the hidden curriculum is
The hidden curriculum is made of the behaviours, attitudes, and expectations that characterise a school’s culture. A neat way to put it: it has more to do with the “where” of education than the “what.” It is less about the content of lessons and more about what it feels like to be a learner in that particular place.
Crucially, this teaching is informal and unintentional. No one stands at the front and announces these lessons. Learners absorb them anyway, from the way the school is run, the way people treat each other, and the expectations that hang in the air.
Values and norms learners absorb from the school’s culture
It is the informal, unintentional teaching of behaviours, attitudes, and perspectives. More about the where of education than the what, it is never stated but strongly felt.
What learners absorb, and how
Through the hidden curriculum, learners pick up a great deal. They learn to form opinions and ideas about their environment and their classmates. They learn to act in ways considered appropriate at school, and to behave as expected in the classroom and on the playground.
It also shapes their ideas about bigger things: gender, morals, social class, stereotypes, cultural expectations, politics, and language. These are not on any timetable, yet learners come away with views on all of them.
The mechanism is observation and participation. The attitudes and ideas are not taught formally; learners absorb and internalise them by watching what happens and taking part in the activities of the school, both inside and outside the classroom. A learner learns that the loudest voice wins, or that everyone gets a fair turn, not from a lesson on the topic but from living it day after day.
How to act appropriately at school, and ideas about gender and social class
They also form opinions about classmates and absorb views on morals, stereotypes, culture, politics, and language, all by observing and participating rather than being taught.
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