The Hidden Curriculum in The Field of Attitude and Values - A Case Study

The Hidden Curriculum in The Field of Attitude and Values - A Case Study

Abstract

The hidden curriculum is that set of implicit messages relating to knowledge, values, norms of behavior, and attitudes that learners experience in and through educational processes. This study is administered to find out what kind of hidden curriculum Police Education in Turkey has except for the official curriculum.

The hidden curriculum is a complex term thus, not easy to study. Both qualitative and quantitative methods are conducted in this research and designed as a case study. The population was selected as follows: attitude questionnaires on school, profession, and branch were conducted to 574 cadets. A purposive sample was selected according to the values of questionnaires. As a third purposive sample, lecturers were selected. Data collection tools include Likert-scale type questionnaires which were developed by the researchers about the school, profession, and branch, letters written by cadets, and interview papers for cadets and lecturers. Mean, standard deviation, and correlation analysis was utilized to analyze the quantitative data and content analysis was utilized to analyze the qualitative data.

According to the findings of the study, lecturers share experiences and attach importance to self-expression. Findings gathered from cadets are consistent with their lecturers. The outcome of the all findings of this research, it is possible to say that these findings are more consistent with the functionalist perspective comparing with others.

Key Words

Hidden Curriculum, Official Curriculum, Value, Police Education, Police Training

Hidden Curriculum

Livesey (*) thinks that not only what is learned and why it is learned, but also, most importantly, we also have work on how it is learned in schools. It is the subject of the official curriculum how it is learned. Though what really happened is the matter of hidden curriculum as well. “The hidden curriculum is that set of implicit messages relating to knowledge, values, norms of behavior and attitudes that learners experience in and through educational processes” (Skelton, 1997 *). Initially, Phillip Jackson (1968 *) originated the term hidden curriculum in his book Life in Classrooms. While originating the term ‘hidden curriculum’ he also identified the basis (Jackson, 1968 *):

"(…) the crowds, the praise, and the power that combine to give a distinctive flavor to classroom life collectively from a hidden curriculum which each student (and teacher) must master if he is to make his way satisfactorily through the school.”

It is a common idea that hidden curriculum exists at all educational institutions including distance education (Anderson, 2001; Tuncel, 2008; Yüksel, 2004 *). So, as an educational institution, police vocational schools have hidden curriculum inevitably. The bulk of the researches on police education in Turkey identified the problems regarding both police lecturers and official curricula (*). But the hidden curriculum is an uninspected aspect of police training.  

Hidden Curriculum of Police Education

The purpose of this study is to find out what kind of hidden curriculum Police Education in Turkey has besides the official curriculum. Both qualitative and quantitative methods are employed.  This research is designed as a case study. The sample was selected as follows: attitude questionnaires on school, policing profession, and special operations branch were administered to 574 cadets (first sample). A purposive sample was selected among respondents according to the scores of questionnaires and afterward, they were interviewed (second sample). The third group of the sample was selected among lecturers and afterward, they were interviewed. Data collection tools include Likert-scale type questionnaires which were developed by the researcher about the school, profession, and branch, letters written by cadets, and interview papers for cadets and lecturers. Mean, standard deviation, and correlation analysis was utilized to analyze the quantitative data and content analysis was utilized to analyze the qualitative data.

Findings

Study findings show that, the attitudes of cadets who selected the police special operations branch were found to be positive towards their school, policing profession, and the police special operations branch. The relationship among attitudes’ scores towards their school, policing profession, and the police special operations branch were found to be positive at a moderate level. This fact indicates the linear relation among cadets’ attitudes.

Findings reading to lecturers, they share policing professional experiences and attach importance to value self-expression. Findings gathered from cadets are consistent with their lecturers, and also cadets expressed their satisfaction with learning via policing professional experiences. This situation may be because of the thought of the insufficiency of the official curriculum. In the context of the hidden curriculum, collectivist/solidary cultural value is to be formed by the lecturers. This finding is consistent with the other cultural studies, i.e. Şahin, Fırat, & Zoraoğlu, 2010; Toker-Gökçe & Oğuz, 2015 (*).

Findings reading to cadets show that besides the official curriculum, lecturers share policing professional experiences. Second, lecturers urge cadets to obey discipline rules. The idea of lecturers that police education should be a professional education instead of general, may lead to this milieu. Lecturers do not only teach, but also try to prepare their cadets for policing profession with real-life experiences (this is an extra effort in Turkey). Lecturers intend to educate cadets not only by means of the cognitive domain but also the affective domain.

In a conclusion, cadets’ attitudes were found to be positive towards their school, policing profession, and the police special operations branch, and also the relation among attitudes’ scores were found to be positive at a moderate level. The highest correlation is between attitudes towards school and policing profession. There is a positive and weak relationship between the police special operations branch and the school. The high scores of attitudes and significant positive relationship among attitudes will be able to affect professional performance positively. Besides, quantitative findings may be seen as an indicator that cadets internalize life in the school in the context of the hidden curriculum. High scores of attitudes and positive relationships among attitudes show fruitful learning experiences in the learning process.

In the context of the hidden curriculum, lecturers share mostly policing professional experiences and attach importance to value self-expression. Lecturers stated that they find the official curriculum insufficient, so they may want to contribute or they may want to explain how to practice the theoretical knowledge. The opinion that police official curricula are insufficient in Turkey is a common finding in both official reports of Turkish National Police (GEAR, 2010; PEMUS, 2011 *) and also scientific researches (Alaç, 2010; Küçükoğlu et al., 2011; Alsancak, et al., 2012; Şen & Muş, 2012 *).

Except for academic success, lecturers attach importance to value self-expression. Following their graduating cadets will serve as police officers in society, not in barracks, so lecturers may see the ability of self-expression as a stipulation of success in professional life. Self-expression is a crucial need (Alıç, 1995; Şimşek & Tanaydın, 2002 *) and because of this importance it is studied in the literature, i.e. during the educational process to enhance this ability drama method usage (Karadağ & Çalışkan, 2006 *), doing an exercise (Kırımoğlu, Kepoğlu, Dereceli, Parlak & Tozoğlu, 2009), and primary school teachers’ request from pre-school teachers (Yapıcı & Ulu, 2010 *) were investigated.

Results and Discussion

The results revealed that lecturers form a collectivist/solidary cultural value in the context of the hidden curriculum. Literature shows that other researchers have similar findings. Şahin, Fırat, & Zoraoğlu’s research (2010 *) found that in Turkish culture collectivism/solidarity is more common than individualism. Toker-Gökçe & Oğuz (2015 *), in their research, found out that the teachers had collectivist cultural values more than the other one. On the other hand, individualism is a common value in western cultures. In Lempp & Seale’s research (2004 *) medical students described a hierarchical and competitive atmosphere in the medical school in the UK, in which haphazard instruction and teaching by humiliation occur, especially during the clinical training years.

Consistent with their lecturers, cadets stated that they shared policing professional experiences. Lecturers bring real-life experiences to class, try to teach from faults, and teach to face faults. It may be said that lecturers see education at school as a professional education instead of a general one, and also they think the official curriculum has gaps. In Turkey, the argument/critic that curricula, particularly police curricula are too theoretical and away from field training, has a long background. Many researches on this subject stated this problem, some of them are: Alaç, 2010; Alsancak et al., 2012; Çöloğlu, 2006; GEAR, 2010; Küçükoğlu et al., 2011; N. Sönmez, 2009; PEMUS, 2011; Şen & Muş, 2012; Yurdaer, 2000 (*).

Both qualitative and quantitative findings reveal that cadets perceive their learning experiences in policing profession and special operations branch positively. This is a crucial factor to endear their school they study and their future profession. One of the most important values cadets receive is professional socialization as both qualitative and quantitative findings tell. In addition to professional socialization, values that start to be given in the family and facilitate general socialization in society (Okumuş, 2014 *), are rendered.

As a result, findings are more consistent with the functionalist perspective comparing with others. The hidden curriculum of Police education facilitates the socialization process as well as the professional process. Qualitative and quantitative findings are consistent. Lecturers treat education as professional education and see insufficiency in the official curriculum. The hidden curriculum supports the official one and plays a complementary role. Cadets are happy with the education they have and perceive themselves as important at the school. The hidden curriculum of Police education functions adequately to prepare cadets for the profession by means of the affective domain.

Based on the results of this research, it is advised to put real-life police experiences into official curricula. For instance, a course with the name “Lessons Learned” may be useful. The hidden curriculum should be considered at the process of police curricula development and also hidden curriculum described by this research should be kept in mind. This research is conducted at Police education, similar researches will be helpful if conducted at the Police Academy (the institution graduates ranked police officers). Directors, supervisors, and especially lecturers and instructors should be trained on this subject to be able to put the theoretical knowledge into practice.  

(*) For references, please read the full article here: http://dx.doi.org/10.7827/TurkishStudies.8607