The Hidden Curriculum (1970) is a book by the psychiatrist Benson R. Snyder (March 29, 1923, in Glen Ridge, N.J. – September 4, 2012, in Cambridge, Mass.), the then-Dean of Institute Relations at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Snyder advances a thesis that much of campus conflict and students' personal anxiety is caused by unstated academic and social norms. These hidden norms affect the ability to develop independently or think creatively, and form what Snyder calls the hidden curriculum. He illustrates his thesis with psychological studies and other research conducted at MIT and Wellesley College.
Summary
The phrase "hidden curriculum" was coined by Philip W. Jackson in his 1968 book entitled Life in Classrooms, in a section about the need for students to master the institutional expectations of school. Snyder develops this with observations of particular institutions. Snyder then addresses the question of why students — even or especially the most gifted — turn away from education. Even honest efforts to enrich curricula frequently fail, says Snyder, thanks to the importance of the tacit and unwritten understanding. He says that while some students do not realize there is a disjunction between the two curricula, in a demanding environment, students develop strategies to cope with the requirements they face. No part of the university community, writes Snyder, neither the professors, the administration nor the students, desires the end result created by this process.
The book has been cited many times in studies.
See also
- Activity theory
- Distributed cognition
- Situated cognition
References
- Review by Alex Makowski (Tech article, 20 January 1971)