The hidden curriculum and its place in the educational process

UDC 37.09
DOI 10.20339/AM.05-26.067

 

Nina I. Lobanova, Cand. Sci. (Philosophy), Associate Professor at the Department of Philosophy, Economics and Law, Krasnoyarsk State Pedagogical University named after V.P. Astafiev, e-mail: nanakrasnoyarsk@yandex.ru

Elena N. Viktoruk, D.Sc. (Philosophy), Professor at the Department of Philosophy, Economics and Law of the Krasnoyarsk State Pedagogical University named after V.P. Astafiev, e-mail: eviktoruk@yandex.ru

Larisa V. Logunova, Cand. Sci. (Philosophy), Associate Professor at the Department of Philosophy, Economics and Law, Krasnoyarsk State Pedagogical University named after V.P. Astafiev, e-mail: logunovalorissa@yandex.ru

The article explores the concept of the ‘hidden curriculum’ and its impact not only on students but also, and primarily, on teachers. Most existing research (both Western and Russian-language) focuses mainly on the student as the primary subject influenced by the hidden curriculum, while the teacher is viewed only from a functional perspective —as the main conduit of these influences. The article proposes to reconsider this one-sided view of teachers as passive intermediaries in the transmission of hidden institutional norms, values, and attitudes. It advances the hypothesis that teachers themselves are recipients of the hidden curriculum’s influence.

Drawing on research in the sociology of education and critical pedagogy, the article demonstrates that such commonly observed phenomena as teachers’ didactic conservatism, logical and moral conformity, and professional deformation are not accidental results stemming from an educator’s personal characteristics and the demands of a specific situation, but rather the predictable outcome of their professional socialization.

The authors argue that studying the mechanisms through which the hidden curriculum operates is a necessary condition for identifying the constraints and possibilities of pedagogical innovations and educational reforms.

Keywords: sociology of education, hidden curriculum, professional socialization of teachers, pedagogical deformation, logical and moral conformity, didactic conservatism, institutional environment

 

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