A Theoretical Conceptualization of the Hidden Curriculum in the Second Half of the Twentieth Century

Abstract

The chapter is based on the presentation of an understanding of the hidden curriculum in the twentieth century. In this period, four theoretical concepts existed: functionalism, criticism, liberalism, and postmodernism. The starting point for the concept of the hidden curriculum was that of the functionalists. Their understanding of the hidden curriculum was based on the transfer of social norms and values to students. Representatives of criticism, for example, Michael Apple, Michael Young, carried the knowledge of functionalists to the concrete social environment and sought the reasons for social inequality and the role of the hidden curriculum in this. Also, liberal authors, such as John Dewey and Phillip Jackson, dealt with practical issues, being, however, interested in the impact of the hidden curriculum in educational practice. With postmodernists, like Michael Foucault, a critical view of the presented concepts is shown and a warning that the hidden curriculum takes place in a complex social system. This chapter explores a theoretical conceptualization of the hidden curriculum in the second half of the twentieth century.