Hidden curriculum essay
Explain the “hidden curriculum” as described in your book. How can this help students? How can it be harmful to students and teachers?
The concept of “a hidden curriculum” was first introduced by Jackson in 1968. The “hidden curriculum” differs from the official traditional curriculum, which is “taught through the spoken and written words in the classroom settings of traditional schools” (Eikeland, 2001, p. 145). The “hidden curriculum” involves various practices that reflect the way the major things in the classroom are organized to improve students’ education. In other words, students do not just get the new information and assess the content provided by teachers, they also “learn to sit quietly, to memorize and repeat, to believe that questions have one correct answer written in some book, and that helping each other equals cheating” (Eikeland, 2001, p. 145).
Many teachers place emphasis on the importance of the “hidden curriculum” in students’ personal development and in “guiding participation in and interpretation of social conventions” (Harpur, 2004, p. 79). Teachers explain the use of the “hidden curriculum” as the best way to follow the established social conventions that contribute to the effective communication practices. In school setting, the major social conventions include interactions with teachers and students. In this case, it is necessary to refer to the role of language, gestures and glances. Teachers take into consideration not only the indirect use of spoken language, but also body language, gestures, eye glances, which often have a significant meaning. Researchers state that in college, students are mature and are focused on bringing clarity to their social interactions. Thus, students should apply their intellectual skills to “analyzing and comprehending the “hidden curriculum” (Harpur, 2004, p. 80).
Moreover, the “hidden curriculum” helps students to become more independent and self-confident. According to researchers, “social roles are learnt in the way it is claimed, as are sex roles and attitudes to many other aspects of living”(Kelly, 2009, p. 10). The “hidden curriculum” affects the established attitudes and values created by teachers in order to be communicated to students in the course of a learning practice. Students effectively use the knowledge provided in classroom settings, based on the values hidden in the arrangements created by teachers in schools. This fact means that those people who are involved in the design of the school curricular are focused on the development of the so-called expressive culture. In some cases, the curriculum is hidden from students, but the values that should be learnt by students are clearly defined as a part of the planned practice. The “hidden curriculum” helps students to eliminate the commitment of the acts of racism and gender discrimination. In addition, the “hidden curriculum” can teach students how to survive in school setting, especially if students have to cheat.
However, the “hidden curriculum” can it be harmful to students and teachers. Many teachers consider that some of the values and attitudes that are learnt through the “hidden curriculum” do not have direct relation to teachers’ practice. They argue that these values can be learnt as a “by-product of what is planned and of the materials provided” in school setting (Kelly, 2009, p. 10). Researchers believe that the nature of individual experiences, as well as the hidden forms of learning, affects students as well. Students face certain problems when they try to assume responsibility for their actions. In some cases, they fail to eliminate some unplanned and uncontrolled practices that can be defined as “a de-schooling of society” (Kelly, 2009). The “hidden curriculum” can cause harm to students, especially when their moral sensibilities allow them to cheat without any guilt.
Thus, it is necessary to conclude that what is practiced in the classroom stands for the “hidden curriculum”, and what is preaches in the classroom stands for “open curriculum”. There is a close link between the “hidden curriculum” and the curriculum, although the hidden messages cannot be regarded as part of the official and planned activities of students in school setting. The “hidden curriculum” does not have any clear and systematic planning because students use hidden messages that come from everyday school activities and promote certain values, attitudes, and skills. As a result, the “hidden curriculum” can be useful for students’ personal development, but, at the same time, it can be harmful to students in terms of morality and ethical behavior.
Explain the following statement: “Race is not a simple matter of skin color but a socially constructed category.”
The statement “Race is not a simple matter of skin color but a socially constructed category” gives an opportunity to access race as a socially determined category of human identity and human interaction. Race is similar to other categories, such as gender, age and class. The term race has direct relation to the concept of racism, which stands for prejudice, ignorance, or a disease that afflicts some individuals and causes them to discriminate against others just because of the way they look” (Bonilla-Silva, 2006, p. 13). According to researchers, race is a socially constructed category as it is focused on the process of construction of human society. For example, two categories “Negroes” and “Indians” were constructed in the 16-th century in order to “justify the conquest and exploitation of various people” (Bonilla-Silva, 2006, p. 28). As a result, “Indians” are represented as savages, while Europeans are represented as highly civilized. These facts mean that the category of race was invented to promote the so-called racialization of people in human society. Race as a socially invented category contributes to the development of a certain form of social distinction, similar to the categories of class and gender. Race as a socially constructed category generates “new forms of human association with definite status differences”(Bonilla-Silva, 2006, p. 28). This process affects human society and leads to the development of the category of race, in which race is characterizes as a “category of group association and identity” (Bonilla-Silva, 2006, p. 28).
Hidden curriculum essay part 2
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