Belonging and Learning to Belong in School

Introduction to the Hidden Curriculum

  • Definition: The hidden curriculum includes the unwritten, unofficial, and unintended lessons, values, and perspectives that students learn in school.

  • Importance: Influences how students engage with knowledge and interact socially, significantly impacting academic outcomes.

Context of Indigenous Education

  • Cultural Disparity: Educational structures often reflect dominant 'white' cultural values, disadvantaging Indigenous students and those from minority backgrounds.

  • Howard and Perry's Argument: Indigenous students need to feel a sense of belonging in schools to achieve their potential.

  • Operational Concerns: The educational system requires students to reconcile their cultural identities with school expectations, often leading to alienation for Indigenous students.

Impact of Hidden Curriculum on Indigenous Students

  • Cultural Mismatch: Mainstream educational expectations can conflict with the home cultures of Indigenous students, complicating their academic success.

  • Alienation: Many Indigenous students find the school environment challenging, leading to disengagement and resistance to education.

Theoretical Perspectives on Hidden Curriculum

  1. Functionalist Perspective: Emphasizes the learning of norms and values necessary for societal functioning.

  2. Neo-Marxist Perspective: Focuses on how the hidden curriculum reinforces social inequities based on class, race, and gender.

Classroom Dynamics and Expectations

  • Behavioral Expectations: Schools often prioritize certain behaviors and communication styles that may not align with Indigenous cultural practices, leading to misunderstandings.

  • Teacher Interactions: Research shows that positive relationships between teachers and students significantly enhance Indigenous student learning and engagement.

Critical Pedagogy and Indigenous Education

  • Critical Pedagogy: Encourages students to critique social inequalities reflected in education, empowering them to take control of their learning.

  • Cultural Capital: Indigenous students need to acquire knowledge about both mainstream and Indigenous cultures to succeed academically.

Recommendations for Engaging Indigenous Students

  • Culturally Responsive Teaching: Education should incorporate Indigenous perspectives and culturally relevant practices to validate students’ identities.

  • Contextualized Learning: Integrating Indigenous knowledge systems with Western pedagogical practices can enhance student engagement and learning outcomes.

Examples of Successful Practices

  • Hudspith's Teaching Model: Involves building personal relationships with students and tailoring instruction to make academic expectations clear.

  • Rahman's Findings: Effective instructional support tailored to student needs significantly contributes to Indigenous student success.

Conclusion

  • Educational Equity: Schools must adapt structures to be inclusive of Indigenous cultures, ensuring that all students feel valued and have equitable opportunities for success.

  • Importance of Identity: Maintaining cultural identity should not come at the expense of academic achievement; instead, both can coexist and enrich each other in an educational context.

Quotes:

“Gray and Partington (2003, p. 136) have found that forIndigenous students ‘. . . the enthusiasm for school dissipates after Year 8 anddisillusion sets in when their expectations of school are not being met’. They arguethat the underlying issues and problems Indigenous students face in education arenot being properly addressed by our system of education (Gray & Partington 2003).”

“it was through the pioneering work of Jackson(1968) on Life in Classrooms that the concept was given clarification.”

“The functionalistperspective maintains that when students begin school, they enter a specific culturewhereby they learn the norms and characteristics necessary for their educationalprogress, and to prepare them for their adult life (Sari & Doganay, 2009; Ulriksen,2009). On the other hand, the Neo-Marxist perspective is more politically orientated,as it is concerned with ‘examining how the social relations of schooling produce thesocial, racial, and gender inequalities and the relationship between the schooling andthe economy’ (Sari & Doganay, 2009, p. 926). The Neo-Marxist position is interestedin how the hidden curriculum reproduces social class structures, and maintains theexistence of dominant cultures in society.”