Socialization and the Hidden Curriculum

1
Socialization and the Hidden Curriculum

• The hidden rules and expectations transmitted
  through schooling

2
Hidden Curriculum

• Refers to the teaching of norms, values, and
  dispositions that occurs through students social
  experiences in routine school activities. e.g.
  conformity, obedience to authority

3
Moral and Political Socialization

• Moral socialization refers to how schools instill
  an idealized version of the values of a society.
• Political socialization refers to the role the
  school plays in instilling the values and norms
  that support the prevailing structure of society,
  including the dominant political ideology.

4
Peer Groups and Popular Culture

• Many of the moral and political values that we
  conform to are transmitted by schools and
  teachers but also include peer groups and the
  popular culture.

5
Peer Groups

• Boys and girls often learn the gender rules of
  society through their respective peer groups.
  e.g. for boys a demonstration of physical
  dominance and skill is often valued, while for
  girls appearance and positive relations with
  others are emphasized
• (The act of bullying in peer groups often
  reinforces the value of these characteristics for
  boys and girls)

6
Popular Culture and Schooling

• Popular culture reinforces many of the hidden
  rules girls and boys learn to follow in their
  classrooms and peer groups. It can be in the
  form of TV shows, films, magazines, the internet,
  and can also offer subversive discourse to what
  is accepted in the school and by the teacher.
  e.g. the appearance and dress of pop stars,
  speaking against authority.

7
Teaching about Popular Culture

• Teachers awareness and inclusion of popular
  culture in their teaching using critical
  thinking, can be beneficial to the pedagogy in
  the classroom. (see the Stevens article in your
  coursepack).