Hidden Curriculum - Sources

Sources

Various aspects of learning contribute to the success of the hidden curriculum, including practices, procedures, rules, relationships, and structures. Many school-specific sources, some of which may be included in these aspects of learning, give rise to important elements of the hidden curriculum. These sources may include, but are not limited to, the social structures of the classroom, the teacher’s exercise of authority, rules governing the relationship between teachers and students, standard learning activities, the teacher’s use of language, textbooks, audio-visual aids, furnishings, architecture, disciplinary measures, timetables, tracking systems, and curricular priorities. Variations among these sources promote the disparities found when comparing the hidden curricula corresponding to various class and social statuses.

While the actual material that students absorb through the hidden curriculum is of utmost importance, the personnel who convey it elicit special investigation. This particularly applies to the social and moral lessons conveyed by the hidden curriculum, for the moral characteristics and ideologies of teachers and other authority figures are translated into their lessons, albeit not necessarily with intention. Yet these unintended learning experiences can result from interactions with not only instructors, but also with peers. Like interactions with authority figures, interactions amongst peers can promote moral and social ideals but also foster the exchange of information and are thus important sources of knowledge contributing to the success of the hidden curriculum.