What is Worth Learning?

It is important for curriculum to be taught from all perspectives that way no one feels left out or marginalized. Explicit curriculum is what is formally taught, but sometimes what isn't said is more revealing. Null curriculum is what is left unsaid, whose voice is left out, and whose perspective is overlooked. Looking even deeper, hidden curriculum is the message that you are subliminally sending with the ways in which you teach and it often perpetuates negative stereotypes. This often happens because of subconscious biases and the white-washing of history. These practices can be very harmful to marginalized groups of students for many reasons. Firstly is the lack of representation. Representation is monumentally important, especially for children. This is because when kids see something they relate to in classroom content they are able to identify with what they are learning about more easily. It is also because it is important for children to understand that there is more than just one perspective when it comes to learning and almost always more than one side to the story. Another reason null and hidden curriculum can be dangerous is its tendency to push unsavory stereotypes that can impact students long term. It can be so harmful for students to have teachers, the people in their life that are supposed to support and help them, that don't believe in them or think less of them because of their gender, sexuality, race, or ethnicity. This is why it is so important to check our subconscious biases in order to make our classrooms as accepting and inclusive of an environment as possible.