Distinguish between formal curriculum, informal curriculum, and hidden curriculum

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

The word curriculum derives from the Latin term meaning "running course." It is the overall plan that includes what you will teach and how the material should be arranged and presented. A curriculum may be thought of as an organizing tool for the myriad topics that are addressed at each grade level. Curricula are typically organized by content area. There are language arts, mathematics, social studies, foreign language, and science curricula. There is a curriculum associated with any subject matter taught at a given school. Sometimes you will hear the official plan of studies referred to as the formal curriculum.
There is also an informal curriculum, which includes all the things you do in the classroom that are not part of the official, prescribed plan. For example, you might use an important local event or news story to create a learning experience closely linked to the students' own lives. In a high school earth science class, the teacher might address an earthquake that was in the news that week and explore the causes for earthquakes, even if this was not the formal topic of study at that moment. Local news events often become the centerpiece of social studies lessons because of their relevance. Although not written into the preplanned curriculum, these informal events bring meaning to the formal curriculum and deepen students' understanding of the concepts they are learning.

In speaking of the informal curriculum, educators often include the concept of the hidden curriculum.

The hidden curriculum consists of the social rules and values schools and teachers transmit to students.

Hidden curricula are communicated through the rules of conduct, dress codes, social atmosphere, and relationships among teachers, administration, and students in a given school environment. They are hidden in the sense that they are not written down, or at least not presented as part of the subject matter to be learned; but they are very much part of the school experience for both students and teachers.