The Teacher's Role in the Hidden Curriculum

I complete the survey before reading the articles and thought I could use this to know more about my students. After reading the material, I learned that knowing the interests of my students can help me to prepare a class focused on their interests. Furthermore, it can help to create curiosity in them. “When we’re interested in what we’re learning, we pay closer attention; we process the information more efficiently; we employ more effective learning strategies, such as engaging in critical thinking, making connections between old and new knowledge, and attending to deep structure instead of surface features.”

Not every teacher teaching the same subject is going to emphasize the same area of that subject because each teacher has a different

Jean Anyon discusses the “hidden curriculum” that is distributed in various schools throughout this article. The hidden curriculum is the certain things in schools that are not “a part of the curriculum” per say, such as teamwork and collaborative skills, social engagement skills, manners, or rules. When thinking back to past articles I was able to note that Dewey was typically more concerned with the “hidden curriculum” instead of the actual content. Anyon’s article also helped the readers understand that we view the world by others who influence us. Jean Anyon researched five different schools that were

Also, throughout curriculum development the goals and aims of the curriculum need to be taken into account. Without specific goals and aims for the curriculum, the curriculum could be unfocused with no purpose identified. Within the social studies curriculum that I analyzed, I noticed societal goals for the curriculum (Posner, 2004). Societal goals are emphasized because the curriculum supports the development of knowledgeable and engaged citizens within our country. By understanding the goal of my curriculum I am better able to understand the purpose of what I am teaching, which in turn helps me to differentiate for my students while still keeping the ultimate goal in mind. I also was able to identify the further learning aims within the curriculum (Posner, 2004). By identifying this aim I was able to see how the curriculum I was teaching tied into the curriculum that the students would experience in subsequent grades. By reflecting on the further learning aims I was able to see how my teaching was a valuable piece of a bigger puzzle

The nature of students is that of an instinctive ability to learn. Students of ages and all grade levels reflect their surroundings and respond according to their interpretation. Naturally it is not only the influence of a classroom that shapes a student but many outside factors that determine students’ goals and abilities; for example, healthy encouragement from parents. Students may find a natural ability to perform in one area of education and with help may fine tune their ability to better their understanding of other areas. Students have a better understanding of education when it is relevant to their needs and everyday life.

Do teachers still teach what you expect the students can learn and remain in their social class or do you still teach them what will give them the flexibility to choose their path in life? According to Jean Anyon in the article “ Social Class and the Hidden Curriculum”, the Hidden Curriculum sets the students to remain within their economic class, which causes inequality in the society. Her findings challenged the work of sociologists who assume that the student's academic success depends on their self-motivation to succeed. I'm of the two mind that the more money you have, the better education your child receives. On the other hand, I also agree that the student success depends on their self-motivation. However, I don't concur that the Hidden Curriculum still exists in schools as at today because instructors are trying their best to rouse students towards achieving more prominent positions in life with the help of information technology, teachers also develop discipline in students and finally, education is reducing inequality in the United States. Therefore, I still maintain that the Hidden Curriculum does not exist in our schools as at present.

The hidden curriculum therefore consists of ideas, beliefs, norms and values which are often taken for granted and transmitted as part of the normal routines and procedures of school life. Bowles and Gintis argue that it is through the hidden curriculum that the education system prepares us for our future as workers in capitalist society.

\item The teachers always want their lessons to be interesting and they introduce the real life problem before they can go deep into the content of the subject.

Students in the class are social and very active in class. Students learn how to be respectful, attentive, and demonstrate good behavior in the classroom. The teacher will create a suitable learning environment so that each student can grasp the concepts. There will also be small groups formed for better learning and support opportunities.

Schools also have a hidden curriculum in which values and norms of behaviour are transmitted. For example, wearing a school uniform and keeping to a set timetable can all be seen as activities that encourage particular standards of behaviour which could be viewed as producing disciplined future workers. Therefore the hidden curriculum implies that pupils not only learn formal subjects such as English or physics but also receive hidden messages about their class, ethnicity and gender from their experience of schooling. Through the choice of teaching strategies and characteristics chosen to be employed by educational institutions it indirectly conveys to students the norms, values and expectations. This is what we refer to as the hidden curriculum. As we will later explore there are many that argue the hidden curriculum and processes within schools help to produce inequalities between children of different social classes. Whitty and Young (1976) view the

Hidden curriculum is not a new concept in the education system, and as a matter of fact, it begins early in a child’s education. According to Sociology: A Down-to-Earth Approach, “hidden curriculum refers to the attitudes and the unwritten rules of behavior that schools teach in addition to the formal education.” This includes rules and expectations. According to The Hidden Curriculum in Higher Education, “hidden curriculum emphasize[s] specific skills: learning to wait quietly, exercising restraint, trying, completing work, keeping busy, cooperating, showing allegiance to both teachers and peers, being neat and punctual, and conducting oneself courteously.” Hidden curriculum sets the standard for what is proper in society. This concept helps

As a teacher, I believe that I play a crucial role in the success of every learning process. To guarantee that learning will take place, I make sure to create a learning environment that is relevant to the students’ background. Throughout my teaching experience, I learned how to love my students,

The education habits of students are rooted in them from the earliest days of their educational careers. The different influences on students, whether it be inside educational institutions, or outside is huge. The teacher of a classroom is the first and most pertinent influence in a student's educational career. Teachers provide students with the basic skills they would need to survive not only in the academic world, but also the world beyond. The relationship between teachers and their students is the key element in creating an educational atmosphere that is both pleasant and effective.

In order to teach successfully teachers must learn about first learn about their students. Teachers must assess the student’s capabilities and interests. Some students are visual learners, while others learn from hands on activities, or verbal communication. Not all students can learn through memorization, rather they learn through interest and relation to the topic. “To realize what an experience, or empirical situation, means, we have to call to mind the sort of situation that presents itself outside of school" (Democracy and Education). The curriculum should encompass material that is most useful for a student to learn. It seems that in the majority of schools, students are not given the flexibility to guide their own learning, but rather follow rigid instructions that destroy the student’s imagination.

It is vital that teachers understand about the hidden curriculum. Often students who come from a low socio economic background can struggle and find it hard when it comes to the hidden curriculum. Having students struggle with the hidden curriculum can impact their learning in other areas of the curriculum, such as summative assessments. Teachers have the opportunity and responsibility to help foster and build upon skill such as social and life skills. By helping students with skills like these will not only build upon their academic skills, but outside of school as well. By having a balance of these life skills as well as intelligence and ability, students will be able to be successful throughout their education. If life skills can be developed and established it has been stated that students are more likely to be successful in the future (Crosswell, Bahr, Pedergast and Newhouse-Maiden 2010 p101). This can be done by building positive student-teacher relationships. This can help students to start to express their ideas and talents through the hidden curriculum. Research has shown that young adolescents need to have a caring school environment, serve with other young adolescents, have a caring family and also develop positive relationships with other community