Hidden Curriculum
Within the education system, there are two common types of curriculums one being the formal curriculum and the other being the hidden curriculum. A formal curriculum is a well-planned curriculum that includes objectives, material, learning opportunities, resources, and assessments as part of a school’s academic curriculum. It is now well-accepted that there is a hidden curriculum within the education system. When lessons are taught in the classroom but aren’t expressly addressed in curricula, it is said that there is a hidden curriculum. Some examples of the hidden curriculum include children learning how to line up, be polite, and share.
As discussed by Giroux in “Schooling and the Myth of Objectivity” creates a different principle of the hidden curriculum from the many previously had to make it a helpful tool for someone to learn something by themselves and comprehend how schools work to encourage the social and cultural reproduction of society. Giroux does this by arguing how the hidden curriculum needs to take up a more central than supplementary position in curriculum theory. Giroux believes that with the hidden curriculum starting point in the late 1960s and early 1970s, “schools came to be seen as social sites with a dual curriculum, one overt and formal and the other hidden and informal” (284). Giroux often makes the argument and explains how the official curriculum, which exclusively addresses instructional outcomes rather than socialization factors, misses the wider picture of why individuals should attend school.
Before I begin working on my assignment, I need to ensure that I have a better and more detailed understanding of Giroux’s opinions and observations on the hidden curriculum. I’ll accomplish this by reading additional works in addition to the one I used for this post. I need to still locate and comprehend two more peer-reviewed studies that support or criticize the hidden curriculum. Before writing my critical summary I am going to make sure I can fully answer the questions “What does this concept/topic mean”? “How does this curriculum scholar define this topic”? “Where do these texts converge/diverge”? “Considering what we have read/discussed in class, what is this text missing”? “What do the others offer?”. I am going to make sure I keep track throughout my learning of all the resources I used to give them credit.
Citation:
Giroux, H. A. (1981). SCHOOLING AND THE MYTH OF OBJECTIVITY: STALKING THE POLITICS OF THE HIDDEN CURRICULUM. McGill Journal of Education / Revue Des Sciences De l’éducation De McGill, 16(003). Retrieved from https://mje.mcgill.ca/article/view/7420