Cultural Hegemony & Hidden Curriculum in Public Education

The ideology of cultural hegemony is alive and well within constructs of public educational system. Cultural hegemony is characterized within the public educational system by an elite group of individuals whom strategically dominate the educational arena and attempt to perpetuate the ideology of supremacy of gender, race and socioeconomic status as it relates to the education of children in our country today.

There is a hidden curriculum that all parts are not privy to. It’s evident when reviewing standardized test scores, it’s evident when discussing with students their views about gifted and talented education and its evident when discussing with teachers the areas of deficiency among students in their classrooms. In an attempt to equalize education for all students including the curriculum within elementary schools is still segregated. Students whose primary language is that other than English are often enrolled in bilingual education programs to help students assimilate to the English language. Students in these programs are often further behind with regard to academics and are often listed as “At Risk” and provided with interventions. Rarely are English Language Learners (ELL’s) nominated for accelerated, gifted and talented programs within schools. The hidden curriculum and cultural hegemony are again hard at work.

I believe that the effects of hidden curricular tactics and cultural hegemony are to blame for ELL’s and African Americans choosing lesser paying jobs and opting for not attending college. I believe that hidden curriculum and cultural hegemony play are large role in how teachers teach students of today’s generation. The charge of teachers is to produce students who are capable of making educational decisions for themselves, or at least given the tools necessary to do so. However, in many secondary schools across the country the curriculum is watered down and it’s not meeting the needs of the students with language challenges, students from low socioeconomic backgrounds. The hidden curriculum as it stands is quietly segregating the education students receive based on race, language and socioeconomic status. I believe in order to raise the bar for schools across our country; school districts must begin to change their instructional practices, increase teacher quality through additional pedagogical training, and relinquish the educational inequities that exist because of prejudice.