Hidden Curriculum

 1: The hidden curriculum is a set of openly secret behaviors performed by certain demographics or subcultures. While these are not hard rules that are actually enforced, they are deeply ingrained behaviors that are expected from people that regularly attend those spaces or are a part of those groups. The hidden ciriculum can be expressed in what is taught, the structure of a school day, appropriate behaviors within a classroom and almost anything that is not expressed directly through the system.

2: In writing classes for certain colleges there may be an expectation to speak in a certain way that is considered “proper English”.  Certain history classes may teach American history through a white colonial lens, while not incorporating different perspectives in a significant way. Students with disabilities are segregated from the rest of the school. 

3: Students that are aware or already adept at navigating the hidden curriculum are much more likely to succeed in their studies than those who don’t. The hidden curriculum often promotes an obedience to authority or deeply ingrained social systems that reward students that follow these rules. Students that are admonished for questioning authority figures send out the message that compliance is valued over critical thinking.

4:   Students that are of the dominant culture are much more likely to succeed in regards to the hidden curriculum because those behaviors were made with them in mind. When the school format expects students to get homework done at home all the time. This puts kids from lower class backgrounds at a disadvantage, because oftentimes a parent may have to spend all their time earning for their families, they live in conditions where it is hard for them to be productive, or they may have multiple obligations and responsibilities beyond school.

5:  One message that schools send out to their students through the enforcement of the hidden curriculum is that of conformity. When students are questioning authority figures within many schools they are punished. Conformity is also expressed through the use of school uniforms. In certain schools, students actively enforce the hidden curriculum with cliques. Self maintained social groups where students form their own hidden curriculums, and which certain groups self segregate themselves from others. 

6: While I don’t think it’s possible to completely change social dynamics amongst peers, you can most definitely change policies within the school to accommodate more students. Recognizing more identities within the student body can really positively impact students that are in the minority.