Starting where you are, revisiting what you know: A letter to a first-year teacher addressing the hidden curriculum

ABSTRACT

Written as a letter to a first-year teacher, the author—acting as a mentor, veteran teacher—critically conceptualizes the hidden curriculum using the work of Jackson (1968), Anyon (1980), and others in order to historicize the term for their newest colleague. Following an initial introduction to the hidden curriculum, the author draws on personal anecdotes from their experiences in two urban elementary schools in the Southern U.S. In doing so, the author brings to life the “qualities” of the hidden curriculum as they continue to exist in today's classrooms across socioeconomic and cultural settings. To conclude, the author provides their first-year colleague a set of questions to consider as they learn to see the hidden curriculum in their own classroom and practice. The friendly-letter format of this article offers an innovative way for teacher educators and researchers to engage prospective and in-service teachers in critical conversations about the concept of the hidden curriculum.

Notes

1. Although students and teachers often adhere to the hidden curriculum, I also find it worthwhile to note that both parties do have personal agency and can take actions to disrupt norms and values of the hidden curriculum.

2. Because classrooms are a place wherein individuals are side-by-side for an extended period of time, students must learn to function in a crowd. Schools are also evaluative places, and thus, students must adjust to successfully participate and receive praise. Power differentials exist in schools. For example, teachers have both more power and more responsibility for how classroom events and life unfold (Jackson, 1968).

3. In using the word “non-marginalized,” I center the marginalization of persons due to their racial and/or ethnic identity, their class status, sexual orientation, gender expression, ability, or linguistic preference rather than centering the constructed identities of the dominant discourse.

4. The “qualities” explored through the program included the following: friendship, compassion, thankfulness, peacemaker, courage, perseverance, responsibility, and honesty.

5. To access Appendix B, please click here.