Hidden and Null Curriculum

Unofficial Expectations

The concept of the hidden curriculum was first developed by Phillip Jackson in his 1968 book Life in Classrooms. According to Jackson, there are three factors embedded in schools: (1) crowds, (2) praise, and (3) power. The hidden curriculum as defined by Jackson must be mastered by students if they are to successfully make their way through the school system. In the context of Jackson's work, the “unofficial or implicit expectations” are what constitute the hidden curriculum.

Examples of the hidden curriculum as identified by Jackson might include the automatic assumption in schools that males will typically take on leadership positions, the importance of certain sports (football, for example) for character development, and the idea that certain specific social manners and values are normative.

Peter McLaren (1998) expanded on the work of Jackson by identifying the hidden curriculum as “the unintended outcomes of the schooling process.” These unintended outcomes are often unrecognized by those who teach in and administer schools. David Sadker and Myra Sadker provide examples of what McLaren is talking about in their analysis about how boys are unconsciously given greater attention than girls in elementary educational settings. As a result, boys and girls are taught that males deserve more attention than females. In addition to being potentially privileged because of the greater attention they receive, boys also end up receiving more instruction.

Another interpretation of the hidden curriculum comes from Stanley Aronowitz and Henry Giroux. Essentially, they argue that there are implicit messages found in the social structures of the schools. Thus, in the period prior to desegregation and to a certain [Page 394]extent in the decades that followed, the unequal funding of White over Black schools in the same communities represented a hidden curriculum—one that suggests that the needs of African American students are not as great as those of their White counterparts.

A final interpretation of the hidden curriculum comes from the work of Bensen Snyder who maintains that while teachers may dictate formal tasks, these may be reinterpreted by students to suit their own needs. As a result, formal curricular needs and objectives may be redefined by students to create an alternative curriculum. Thus a group of high school students might become very active in a drama or music program not so much because they are interested in performing, but because they are interested in being part of a social group associated with the program or activity, or they like to have access to the interesting things found in the theater department.

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