The Informal System and the Hidden Curriculum

•Hidden curriculum•School climate•School condition

The Hidden Curriculum

The curriculum students learn that is not part of formal education.Def: implicit demands (as opposed to the explicit obligations of the visible curriculum) that are found in every learning instn and which students have to find out and respond to in order to survive within in (Snyder).

Reproduction Theory and the Informal Theory

Social control of the hidden curriculum reproduces the social class of students, e.g. working class students.

Hidden curriculum contains a social an economic agenda that is responsible for separating social classes.

The Educational “Climate” & School Effectiveness‘

climate refers to a general social condition that characterizes a group, organization / community’

(Brookover, Erickson and McEvery, 1996)

Affects what happens in schools and classrooms

Could influence student academic achievement

‘climate affects the experience of school participants

The Value Climate

School teach more than 3Rs

Both formal + Informal organization include lessons in values and moral

Some moral messages were not taught, but absorbed as part of the educational environment.

Verbal and non verbal cues.

The School Climate and Effective School

Consist of the value, attitudes, belief, norms, and school culture

customs of those making up the system.

Reflects the immediate community in which the school is located and its students’ school climate its student’s characteristic.

Teachers represent the culture of the adult society and the dominant group.

Students make their own culture.

School Learning Climate

The normative attitudinal and behavioral patterns in a school which impact on the level of academic achievement of the student body as a whole – teacher expectations, academic norms, students’ sense of futility, role definitions, grouping patterns, and instructional practices (Brookover et al, 1996, p.28)

Positive school climate

Emphasizes and rewards academic achievement.

The important of scholastic/educational/academic success.

The maintenance of order and fair discipline.

Classroom learning climate

Made up of routine imposed on students in classrooms in order to maintain control and discipline.

Students always play passive learning

Teachers call shots and determine the activities

Children must acquire the behaviours and attitudes necessary for classroom learning before coming to school.

Students understand their classroom experiences in many different ways.Classroom climate can produce anti school feeling, especially in competitive restrictive classrooms and also produce students who are motivated.

Classroom codes: Introduction in the classroom

Interaction is the major process.3 types of classroom interaction related to teacher’s style: authoritarian, democratic, and laissez- faireDaily student and teacher interactions and interpersonal interaction relations determine the atmosphere of the classroom.

Student friendship and interaction patterns in the classroom

Friendship patterns affects each student’s peer group affiliation. It also turn aspirations for educational attainment.Open, flexible, and democratic classroom stress the effective or emotional growth of students.Traditional classrooms are teacher’s centered. Stress learning the basics.Effective classrooms include increase interaction and shared activities.Open classrooms include increase interaction and shared activities.Open classrooms encourage more and longer lasting friendship.

All children need social peers and close friends to feel that they belong.

Clear differences between female and male popularity and friendship patterns

Females are close knit and egalitarian.

Popularity of boys and girls in elementary schools relates to gender socialization.

Boys achieved high status because of athlete ability, coolness, social skills. Girls are popular because of their parents’ socio economic status, appearance, academic success and social skill.

The organizational structure of the school can also affect interaction. Moving seats, rearranging desks, and regrouping students all influence interaction pattern and climate. Special events or organizational changes can alter the classroom routine and also affect classroom participation.

Seating arrangement and physical condition in classrooms and schools.

Evidence points to the influence of classroom structure and school condition in the achievement of student. Most classrooms are set up so that teacher is the center of activity. Student face the teacher. Maximum attention can be focused toward the teacher. So, easy for the teacher to control the students.

The location of a student’s seat affect both the student’s behaviour and the teacher’s attitude towards the students. Studies show that students sitting in front of the classroom participate more and achieve better. They are also regarded more highly by teachers and peers. In college, students sitting in front tend to be brighter and more interested, to get better grades, and to like the instructor better.

Physical conditions

Is the most important factors affecting student performance– Environment, lighting,

adequate space, and equipment and furnishing (esp. science education).

Size of school classroom

Smaller classes means fewer control problems, less work for teachers, more interaction an communication between teacher and students.

Greater interest in school achievement level and more social equality.

Larger school leads students to be more passive with adults, to be followers, to depend on others to manage their affairs, to have fewer leadership opportunities.

Architecture of Schools

Whether the buildings are squeezed between other buildings re located on sprawling campuses, their fence-in are or other physical separation distinguishes them from community at large.

Separation isolates schools from valuable interactions with the wider community. Yet it serves the function of concentrating students in one place for specific activity.

Teacher strategies and Informal systemClassroom management : the entire range of teacher-directed planning, managing, and monitoring of student learning activities and behavior. Different strategies for new circumstancesTime on and off (time wasted)– Solutions: well-planned and paced lesson, quick

transitions bet topics, ask students to do simple tasks, paperwork etc.