The Hidden Curriculum

I have to admit, it has always fascinated me.  Something Machiavellian in me wants to smile knowingly and rub my hands together in a “Snidley Whiplash” type of way.  Perhaps I am dating myself in the use of the arch villain “Snidley Whiplash” but I am certain there are a few other cronies like myself our there who remember Snidley.  I am also working on my maniacal laugh, just to really set the stage.

We all participate in delivering the hidden curriculum, generally unknowingly.  Terms that we use in class on a regular basis, “good job”, “excellent answer”, “sit still”, can carry significant meaning in regards to what we feel are important.  Good job may well imply that the effort that was put in to the thinking of the student was enough.  Thinking is done.  How about “excellent answer” how can that be judged anything but a wonderful way to build a students thinking?  Perhaps other students with answers which are not in agreement with what the “excellent answer” was are now thinking that their answer is flawed, that their thinking just isn’t good enough.  And what does “sit still” say to a student?  That only in moments we are still can good thinking occur.  Research might suggest otherwise.

Even in writing these I struggle with whether these supportive words can possibly have impact on student engagement but then I recall something that happened in one of my classes a while back.  I had handed out a study package for students to review over their Spring Break.  Not meaning to ruin their holiday, I stated that it was simply there for them should they choose to do it.  It was certainly not assigned.   On their return to school, I asked if anyone had a chance to get a head start on the package and much to my surprise, one of the students did!   Most students however, had taken the Spring Break as just that, a break.  It was optional so “why worry” was the thinking.  I was astonished and praised the child for their work ethic, and even held the child up for the others to look on as a positive role model,”This young lady, is certainly ready for the jump to higher learning.”  Positive praise yields positive results.

It was years later, when out and about, I ran into a student who had been in that class that day, not the child I praised but rather one who took the “break”.  After inquiring about what they were up to I was surprised to learn that this young lady had never gone on to post secondary schooling.  She was very bright after all.  When I inquired as to why, she said that when she was in my class, she recalled me saying that the work would be so hard and that you never got a break.  I didn’t recall the event at all until she reminded me of what had happened and I was amazed.  This certainly wasn’t the message I was trying to send yet, there it was, right in my face.  My simple praise for getting ahead took on a negative connotation simply because I wasn’t thinking about the influence of my words.  It was viewed as a statement that University was too difficult, that is was based on work load rather than quality of work and that expectations were unclear.  Our words in the classroom are often perceived as something far different than we intend.  What I intended as a simple prod to use their time wisely became a major knock to a child on the absolute difficulty of University and how she was not prepared for it.   I never intended for students to question their ability . . . but one did.

So, what do we take from that?  I know that it really made me reflect on the message that I am sending through the things I say and the actions I take.  I am more mindful of the way my actions may be percieved and I try to make the covert, more overt.  That is to say, I really try and think the way a student or a colleague may interpret what I say or how I act so that I am not sending “hidden” messages. And when I am sending the hidden message, I want to know what it is so that I am at least in control of it.

Think about it just for a second.  What messages are you sending through your routines?  What’s important in your classroom?

 

Keep on learning . . . and reflecting.

 

Dave

Interesting Reads

Mindsets - Carol Dweck
Teaching Boys who struggle in School - Kathleen Palmer Cleveland
Drive - Daniel Pink
Outliers - Malcolm Gladwell

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