Hidden Curriculum: Process

On Thursday we had another presentation on the hidden curriculum but this time the focus was on the process rather than the content. This basically implies how students learn the social norms and values of a society and the socialization of students. I thought the presentation was really well done and very interesting. It helped me to examine my own school experiences and evaluate how I was socialized as a student and how I am influencing the socialization of the students that I teach.

The presentation focused on early elementary students and how the hidden curriculum is used to teach and reinforce the values of our society. As soon as children start school, they are being shaped into individuals that follow the rules in our nation. We setup rules and routines in our classroom to help with the management of the class but also help students to know how they should act outside of the classroom and school. Students are told where to sit, when to eat, when to play and how to move between activities. We teach students to conform to the rules and obey authority figures.

In part of the presentation we were asked to recall our first day of school. I had a hard time remembering what it was like on my first day but I remember different areas of the kindergarten classroom. We had a labelled hook for our coat and place for our shoes right outside the classroom. Inside, the classroom was divided into different sections. One section was for dress up and to make plays. Another had tables for drawing and small lessons. Another area had a sandbox and water table. And a larger fourth area (there may have been more areas but these are the ones that I remember) was an open space where we would sit to have stories read to us. One member of our class said he remembered having a piece of tape on the carpet with his name on it and they had to sit on their name. I don’t think we had to sit on our names when we sat on the carpet but I think we had name tags for sitting at the tables. I wonder if this is why now as adults we have a hard time sitting in a different desk or chair then we normally do. As children we were told where to sit and it was always in the same place until someone changed our seats, so perhaps we have developed this nature (or socialised) to always sit in the same place. If you haven’t noticed this yet, think about where you sit when you enter a class. Chances are you typically sit in the same general area if not the same seat in every class. Or have you ever sat in someone else’s seat and watched their reaction? Often they are a little confused and don’t know what to do. It’s sort of funny to see…

I thought the use of literature was a good way to see how we try to teach children about the norms and values of our society at an early age. I have always thought that parents often try to help their children understand what the first day of school would be like and many parents use books to help illustrate the idea of school. Using these types of books in school would also be helpful to show how students should act in a certain situation, such as being a good friend, keeping secrets, listening to parents or teachers. These books could also help teachers explain rules in the classroom.

Overall, I think the hidden curriculum is helpful to teach students how they should behave in social settings. It helps students to learn the norms and values of our nation and become successful individuals. Although we may think we are simply teaching students the rules of our classroom, we often are also teaching the rules of our nation.