Exposing the hidden curriculum

The actual curriculum, that which is actually carried out, could be identical to the formal curriculm (although this may be difficult to achieve) and it could be made explicit. The hidden curriculum is usually contrasted with the formal curriculum and may form part ot the actual curriculum. The major aim of this paper is to argue for 1) the claim, that the hidden curriculum "always has a normative or "moral" component", and 2) the related claim that, all things being equal, educators have the responsibility to make the hidden curriculum as explicit as possible. Such positions, it will be argued, arise from the very nature of the notion of the hidden curriculum itself rather than, as it is usually claimed, from the kind of things that are often referred to as being learnt implicitly. To argue for these positions it will be necessary to analyse the concept of the hidden curriculum, as well as briefly to look at how the notion is employed and understood by educationists who have defended different conceptions of it. (DIPF/Text uebernommen).