ABSTRACT
Most of those who write on hidden curricula focus their attention on “curriculum.” We want to begin by making a few observations on the concept of “hidden.” In her important article, “What Should We Do with a Hidden Curriculum When We Find One?”, Jane Roland Martin identified two sorts of hiddenness: “Something can be hidden in the sense of which a cure for cancer is hidden or in the sense in which a penny in the game Hide the Penny is hidden.” Is the curriculum yet to be discovered or has it been hidden by someone? Martin also noted that a curriculum can be revealed to some, while remaining hidden to others: “Until learning states are acknowledged or the learners are aware of them, however, they remain hidden even if sociologists, bureaucrats, and teachers are all aware of them. Thus a hidden curriculum can be found yet remain hidden, for finding is one thing and telling is another” (Martin 1994, 162). This discussion is helpful, but does not go far enough in investigating hiddenness.
