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Education & Teaching vocabulary · Curriculum and Programs

Hidden curriculum

Meaning in education & teaching, with examples

nounAdvanced term

In education & teaching, hidden curriculum means: The unwritten values, attitudes and rules of behavior that students learn at school from routines, relationships and expectations, rather than from the official lessons.

In Turkish: örtük program, gizli program

How it is used

Used mainly in education studies, sociology and teacher training. Researchers discuss what the hidden curriculum teaches about time, authority, gender or success. It is contrasted with the formal or official curriculum.

Example sentences

  1. Through the hidden curriculum, pupils learn that being on time and waiting their turn are valued.

  2. Her thesis looks at the hidden curriculum of seating and speaking in mixed classrooms.

Common collocations

  • the hidden curriculum
  • formal curriculum
  • official curriculum
  • messages of the hidden curriculum
  • curriculumThe whole set of subjects, content and skills that students are expected to learn at a school or level, including how the learning is organized and assessed.
  • classroom routineA fixed way of doing a regular task in class, such as entering the room, collecting homework or moving into groups, that students learn and repeat until it becomes automatic.
  • classroom rulesA short list of clear expectations about how students should behave in a class, often agreed together and displayed on the wall.

More terms: Curriculum and Programs

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