The hidden curriculum refers to the unofficial and often unintended lessons, values, and perspectives that students learn in school. It includes the implicit academic, social, and cultural messages communicated through behaviors, attitudes, and perspectives. The hidden curriculum is unacknowledged and teaches things like gender stereotypes, character formation, and cultural transmission. In contrast, the core curriculum includes compulsory and optional courses to prepare good citizens and meet student needs through a common set of experiences focused on personal and social problems. It aims to build academic foundations, teach essential skills, disciplinary perspectives, and global responsibility.

1. HIDDEN VS CORE
CURRICULUM

2. HIDDEN CURRICULUM
• Hidden curriculum refers to the unwritten, unofficial,
and often unintended lessons, values, and perspectives
that students learn in school.
• While the “formal” curriculum consists of the courses,
lessons, and learning activities students participate in,
as well as the knowledge and skills educators
intentionally teach to students, the hidden curriculum
consists of the unspoken or implicit academic, social,
and cultural messages that are communicated to
students while they are in school.

3. • These include behavior, attitude, values and
perspectives that students learn, while they are in
school.
• The hidden curriculum is described as “hidden”
because it is usually unacknowledged or unexamined
by students, educators, and the wider community.
• Olivia: The hidden curriculum consists of the kinds of
learning children acquire from the nature and
organization of the classroom and school as well as the
attitudes and actions of their children.

4. • So, hidden curriculum is a broad category that
includes all of the unrecognized and sometimes
unintended knowledge, values and beliefs that are
part of the learning process in schools and
classrooms.

5. KEY FEATURES
Hidden
Curriculum
With a non-academic
focus on teaching values
and skills apart from
official curriculum
With a potential to lead
to positive and negative
influences on the
individuals
Consciously or
unconsciously hidden at
least for a group of
subject
Not written and not
explicitly acknowledged

6. ROLE
• To inculcate society’s core values
• Adaptation of real life situations
• Cultural transmission
• Gender stereotype
• Character formation
• Development of language

7. CORE CURRICULUM
• This type of curriculum includes compulsory and optional
courses of study.
• The compulsory courses have to be studied by every
student.
• It is related to student and social needs.
• It helps in preparing good citizens.
• The optimal courses are offered by students according to
his need and interest.
• Thus it is also known as learner centered curriculum.
• A.A.Douglass: Core curriculum is a projection of all basic,
general training of the elementary school.

8. NEED
• To provide students a common body of
experience organized around personal and social
problems
• To give learners successful experiences in solving
the problems which are real to them, thus
preparing them to solve future problems.
• To give learners, such experiences which will lead
them to become better citizen in a democracy.
• To make learners social competent.

9. ROLE
• It builds a solid academic foundation with personal flexibility.
• Value.
• Quality
• ESSENTIAL SKILLS
 Communication Skill
 Reasoning Skills.
 Information Literacy
• DISCIPLINARY PERSPECTIVES
 Scientific Literacy
 Humanities and Creative Arts
• GLOBAL RESPONSIBILITY
 Global Literacy
 Ethics and Civic Engagement.