What is the School’s Hidden Curriculum Teaching Your Child? (Ausbrooks)

This article discusses the idea of what the student learns just by being in the school, with little connection to what the lesson plan objectives state. When you think back to your own school days it is what happens between learning we remember: friends and leisure, the social context of learning.

The term ‘hidden curriculum’ is used throughout the reading to refer to social development through peer interaction. The hidden curriculum is what creates a particular ‘learning environment,’ which takes place in classrooms, hallways, assemblies, and anywhere students gather with the possibility for peer interaction.

There are two ends of the scale of the hidden curriculum. The best, with growth, opportunity, and acceptance, is created by providing a comfortable, structured, and safe atmosphere. Alternately, the student can experience discouragement, negativity, and exclusion fueled by the trauma of adolescence in an atmosphere where there is insecurity.

Physical aspects of any school building convey a message about the type of atmosphere the students are learning in. This includes everything from classroom configurations and the colour of the walls, to display cases, art exhibitions and whatever is being shown as important. A school that cares about kids will make everyone feel at home.

Based on my own experiences as a student and student teacher, I completely agree with the article. I would definitely say popular culture, as well as peer interaction, has a lot to do with the lives of students. It is possible to ‘reveal’ this hidden curriculum by making lessons that strive to have objectives like acceptance and cooperation.