4.2 Four Curricula

There are four different types of curricula that educators have to address in the classroom; these four are the explicit, implicit, null, and extracurricular. The most obvious curriculum in the classroom is the explicit curriculum because that is the curriculum that has been approved by the New York State Board of Regents. Curriculum of extracurricular activities also exists for such activities as academic clubs, band and chorus, or sports. The curriculum that is not so obvious is the implicit or “hidden curriculum” and the null curriculum, which is information that students may never be exposed to because they are excluded from the explicit curriculum. Each of these curricula will be explained below with examples to illustrate what each entail.

Different Types of Curriculum Explicit Curriculum The subjects that will be taught, and the knowledge and skills that the school expects successful students to acquire. Implicit Curriculum The lessons that arise from the culture of the school and the behaviors, attitudes, and expectations that characterize that culture. Null Curriculum The options students are not afforded the concepts and skills that are not a part of their intellectual repertoire. Eisner, 1994. Extracurricular Experiences All of the schools-sponsored programs (athletics, band) that are intended to supplement the academic aspect of the school experience.

Explicit

Explicit instruction can be described as being a curriculum that has been intentionally designed, field tested by educators, and disseminated publicly, often with resources that will help teachers facilitate classroom instruction. To illustrate this point, one could look at the teacher manuals that are created to offer guidance on how to deliver instruction to students and provide curriculum maps, graphic organizers, and supplemental materials that could be used to deliver the prescribed curriculum.

Implicit

The hidden curriculum are lessons that emerge from the culture of the local school district school and the behaviors, attitudes, and beliefs that have defined by the district. Bruner (1960) addressed the need to cultivate an understanding of ideas by including content beyond the explicit curriculum. An example of a hidden curriculum is character education. Character education may address values that are not part of the state-approved curriculum. While character education can be found in the explicit curriculum, the nuances of the character education program may be informed by many factors present in the local school district including the school community’s cultural expectations, values, and perspectives. A character education program may also include specific curricular topics which may contain varying ideological and/or cultural messages. Teaching strategies that connect the school to the community like problem-based learning or applied learning, can also be part of the implicit curriculum. 

Null

Eisner (1985) defined null curriculum as information that schools do not teach: 

 … the options students are not afforded, the perspectives they may never know about, much less be able to use, the concepts and skills that are not part of their intellectual repertoire (Eisner,1985, p. 107).

There are several examples of null curriculum that can be identified in content areas. For example, in social studies, the teacher may give a general overview of the history of science while covering the scientific revolution. However, this information is excluded from the formal curriculum. Another example would be the exclusion of Darwin’s theory of evolution from the official biology curriculum. Null content may represent specific facts omitted in a particular unit of study. An example of this would be a social studies unit focusing on the New Deal may not reference the fact that the New Deal failed to resolve the problem of unemployment.  

If you are interested in reading a contemporary application of the null curriculum, read this article Confronting inequity/Reimagining the null curriculum (Milner, 2017). Milner asks educators to teach challenging issues such as white supremacy by reframing what we teach.

Extra

Extra-curricular curriculum includes school-sponsored opportunities that fall outside of academic requirements prescribed on the local and state levels. Examples of extra-curricular activities include participation in sports, music, student governance, yearbook, school newspaper, and academic clubs. Extracurricular participation is a strategy to promote school connectedness (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2009). Extracurricular activities are often associated with many positive outcomes such as higher academic achievement and decreased school dropout (Farb & Matjasko, 2012).

For more information on extra curricular participation,  visit the U.S. Census site to learn about recent students’ participation, the many benefits, and differences across genders and income status: https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2022/07/children-continue-to-be-involved-in-extracurricular-activities.html