Week+4+wiki+assignment

Much of what students learn and don’t learn in their K-12 years is not contained in the overt curriculum. Other forces are at work as well. We will consider three of them here: the hidden curriculum, the null curriculum, and the nonschool curriculum.


 * //Hidden curriculum//** – This term was popularized in 1968 by Philip Jackson in his book, //Life in Classrooms// (an excerpt of which is included as Chapter 11 in CSR). The hidden curriculum refers to what schools teach implicitly through the schooling experience itself – how students are socialized by the schooling process and its expectations. This can include messages or lessons that are unintended, those that are intended but subtly communicated, and even those that are not consciously noticed by teachers. Jackson wrote that one aspect of the hidden curriculum that most students learn in schools is the importance of conformity to authority and institutional expectations. Another example of the hidden curriculum might take place in schools where the entire day is spent on math and reading. The unspoken message here is that these subjects are somehow more valuable and important than others.


 * //Null curriculum//** -- The notion of the null curriculum was put forward by Elliot Eisner in his book, //The Educational Imagination// (1979). (Two articles by Eisner are included in CSR – Chapters 10 and 27). As the name implies, the null curriculum refers to the curriculum that is **not** taught due to priorities, budgeting, or real or perceived pressures. As Eisner puts it, “It is my thesis that what schools do not teach may be as important as what they do teach. Ignorance is not simply a neutral void; it has important effects on the kinds of options one is able to consider, the alternatives that one can examine, and the perspectives from which one can view a situation or problems.” For example, in many schools today, gay and lesbian issues would be part of the null curriculum.

**//Nonschool curriculum//** – The nonschool or out-of-school curriculum has been examined by William Schubert (1986) and others. This refers to the learning children and youth receive via their experiences outside the school’s doors. According to Schubert, this can include what students learn at home and from their families; in peer groups; from television, video games, movies, online, and through other mass media; in formal organizations such as YMCAs, athletic teams, church groups, and gangs; from part-time jobs or hobbies; and in their communities and neighborhoods. It is important to emphasize that many teachers of poor children assume that their students only learn negative or undesirable lessons outside of school, and this narrow view should be avoided. The nonschool curriculum, like the official curriculum, can be a positive influence or a not-so-positive one.

Your assignment is to share **one example** of **one of these three** phenomena (not all three) as it plays out in your school or with your students. Rather than simply list our responses, however, we are going to create a collaborative slide presentation on Google Docs. You will be responsible for one slide that will contain an image that represents your example and a 1-2 sentence caption explaining what it is represents (also include your name).

To go to the slide presentation, click this link.

https://docs.google.com/present/edit?id=0AQ9ln430U3WyZGhmZ2s3cnRfOTVoazJucTd4cg&hl=en

You **will not** need to set up a Google account to be able to add your slide -- simply following the link will allow you to make edits/additions. If you've ever done a Powerpoint presentation before, the interface will probably be self-explanatory, but if not: Simply click on “Slide,” then “New slide,” and then choose the “caption” layout choice. Click the image icon to insert your image into the slide, and then type in your caption. (Follow the model on the sample slide I did.) If you have any questions, post them on the Questions page or email me. To view the slideshow, click on “Start presentation" on the top right of the web page.

To find an image, do a Google search for whatever word or phrase you’re looking for and then click “Images” at the top of the search results page. Try to find an image that is at least 300x300 pixels (bigger is better -- you can always shrink it). To save a web image to your computer, right click it and click on “Save image as…”