WHAT THE EXPERTS SAY.... Duncan Cross Brian Smith


UNRAVELLING THE HIDDEN CURRICULUM TO UNLOCK TRUE INCLUSION


Comment by Professor DUNCAN CROSS, Director of the Centre of Excellence in Learning and Teaching, and Professor BRIAN SMITH, Deputy Provost, at Arden University.


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very society and culture has its own subtle nuances and unspoken rules that shape behaviours and expectations, influencing our lived experiences.


For those working in higher education, it’s important to be aware of how these aspects can shape the curriculum and learning experiences – often referred to as the ‘hidden curriculum’. This is crucial to foster a learning community that values and celebrates diverse backgrounds and experiences. Here, we explore the hidden curriculum – including the often-overlooked elements we need to take the time to teach students so they can reach their full potential. We also examine the influence of unspoken rules and norms in the hidden curriculum, and how they can impact students’ inclusive learning experiences.


Cultural norms and values, while providing a sense of shared understanding within a community, can sometimes create barriers. For instance, differing expectations, behaviours and values in one culture may carry entirely different meanings in another.


As a result, when people are unaware of these unspoken expectations, they can feel excluded, judged or marginalised, as their actions or interpretations may unintentionally diverge from the norm. Higher education plays a critical role in supporting students through their studies and into the world of work. Ensuring students are aware of societal and cultural norms will help them navigate the range of diverse life scenarios they may encounter, both at university and in the workplace. Beyond technical skills or job-specific knowledge, we also need to teach the ‘soft skills’ and professional behaviours that aren’t always intuitive. These may include understanding workplace etiquette, effective communication styles, time management strategies and the importance of networking and relationship-building.


So, how do we go about teaching these quiet, hidden rules? Education professionals are familiar with the concept of the hidden curriculum – the idea that students often learn more from the educational setting than from the specific subject matter. This encompasses values, norms and beliefs that aren’t part of the formal teaching but are nonetheless experienced by students in the classroom.


The hidden curriculum significantly impacts a student’s sense of belonging and their understanding of what’s needed for success. To effectively harness the hidden curriculum for building shared values or resources that enable groups to collaborate towards common goals, it’s essential to make these hidden elements more explicit within the educational framework. Historically, some academics have argued that the hidden curriculum can mirror the interests of dominant groups, thereby reinforcing privilege and disadvantaging others. This often occurs because members of these dominant communities are immersed in their own culture, making it difficult for them to recognise barriers that exist for others.


There are some key considerations and challenges to overcome to unlock the hidden curriculum and allow students to reach their full potential. The top five are:


• Removing unfair advantages: While every discipline may have local practices, they need to be shared with everyone. In an assessment context, this includes developing assessment literacy for all learners, for all assessments. Scaffolding assessments at an early stage gives learners the opportunity to familiarise themselves with the scale, scope and criteria that can be developed for success.


• Map for success: Students are navigating a host of new environments, staff, knowledge, customs and cultures. Not everyone has been provided


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with a ‘map’ to navigate their way through the university experience. Explicit instruction on reading the ‘map’ provides a critical starting point for students to understand the culture or custom and practice, and helps them to integrate that into their educational gains toolkit.


• Working together: Educators need to think deeply and meaningfully about how to design their curriculum and learning experiences to ensure they build a sense of belonging for all students. Discussing society’s unspoken and unwritten rules will encourage healthy debates on what social inequalities exist and how to eradicate them.


• Placement needs: Placements are an important aspect of students’ learning journeys. Where students are on placement, those work environments need to consider how they meet the needs of all. Employers and educators have a joint responsibility to ensure students feel part of the team.


• Integrating learners through explicit action: Transforming the hidden curriculum and bringing knowledge to the surface as an explicit curriculum can help students from all backgrounds to assimilate to university and work culture. For example, students new to a discipline may struggle with the vernacular. Co-creating a dictionary with learners that has clear expectations removes barriers to saying ‘I don’t know’, provides a safe space for everyone to come to a shared understanding and encourages engagement.


There’s a crucial issue at hand: the responsibility lies with us as educators. We must be prepared for change and engage in critical reflection on our practices and curriculum development. While we often incorporate placements or travel experiences into our curricula, the ongoing cost-of- living crisis excludes many students, places financial burdens on others and creates a visible barrier underpinned by a hidden curriculum. We need to teach students about hidden cultural norms and foster a critical awareness of them, encouraging both educators and students to adapt while remaining true to their own identities.


Educators should not only recognise the hidden curriculum; we must actively work to ensure that the explicit curriculum promotes positive values and equitable opportunities.


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