Sociocultural psychology and caring pedagogy: Exploring Vygotsky's "Hidden Curriculum"

Abstract

In this essay, I analyze the value presuppositions implicit in Lev Vygotsky's sociocultural perspective on learning and development, and thus explore what might be called Vygotsky's "'hidden curicu1um"-the unstated goals and messages of his educational-developmental psychology. I do so by bringing Vygotsky's work into dialogue with that of Nei Noddings, who articulated an approach to ethics and moral education that highlights the centrality of care and caring in human life. I argue, ultimately, that the value assumptions and presuppositions embedded in Vygotsky's psychology—in both its original and its contemporay forms—are similar to those that inform Noddings' conception of care and caring pedagogy, and thus that Vygotsky and Noddings share common moral concerns and commitments, particularly with respect to the characteristics of positive learning experiences.