Students pick up on what’s accepted and what’s not by watching facial expressions. The hidden curriculum requires observational learning. Brenda Smith Myles frequently talks about it as the social guidelines that “everyone” knows but no one is directly taught. Rick Lavoie used it to describe the unwritten social context of schools that individuals with learning disabilities, and other disabilities, miss out on because they don’t pick up on it. We use it to describe the culture of organizations (in relation to their mission). Essentially it’s the unwritten rules or motives of an organization or situation. We use the term hidden curriculum in in several different ways. The hidden curriculum is the unwritten rules and expectations of situations. Chances are good that your students with autism, as well as other disabilities or special needs, are in that situation. Or that you didn’t even realize there might be social signs that you are missing. Now imagine if that type of uncertainty occurred in every interaction throughout your day. Was it a formal gathering or very casual? By using those strategies, you found a way to uncover the hidden curriculum. When you got there, you hung back for a bit to see how people were interacting. Have you ever been in a social situation in which you just weren’t quite sure of the accepted dress or behavior? Chances are good that you called a friend to find out what to wear. Have you heard of the hidden curriculum? I’ve talked about it in Episode 68 of the podcast.
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