Eisner (1979)

"The Three Curricula That All Schools Teach" is the fourth chapter from The Educational Imagination by Dr. Elliot Eisner (1979). The chapter discusses three types of curricula: explicit, implicit, and null. Naturally, I am familiar with what explicit curricula entails – the content taught as clearly outlined in policy and implemented in schools. Since starting teacher's college I have had more time to reflect on implicit curricula. Eisner describes this as the intellectual and social virtues that students learn beyond the explicit curricula. Only since reading this chapter have I begun to think about the null curricula – that which isn't taught. 

Three of my stops in this reading were:

1. We spend a lot of time in school. Students spend 12,000 hours in school by the time they graduate high school. Eisner writes that this "culture that is so natural a part of our way of life that it is almost taken for granted" (page 87). It is important for myself as a teacher to consider how my experiences and my students' experience in school shapes our understanding of the world beyond school.
   
2. Do we teach to compete or do we just encourage competition? Eisner writes how prevalent and necessary competition is throughout K-12 education (page 91). I wonder if this is one of the most important implicit skills we teach. I would like to learn how to include healthy competition in my classes such that students don't feel anxious and understand the applications to the skill beyond the classroom. 
   
3. Chairs in classrooms are uncomfortable. They are designed this way for easy maintenance (page 97). I understand the benefits of these classrooms and I think there are solutions to mitigate the dull spaces these minimal environments may insinuate. I can add personal touches to the classroom walls such as in puzzles and visuals of art relating to the content I teach. Additionally, I would like to engage in outdoor learning to get students out of the classroom.
   

My takeaway from this reading is the importance of using the null curricula to guide the explicit/implicit curricula. This is reflected in Bloom's taxonomy in the cognitive, affective, and psychomotor domains – respectively considering thinking, feeling, and skill/performance. We use the levels of these domains to guide learning outcomes in lessons and assessments. With regards to the BC curriculum, I think inquiry-based learning and emphasizing the big ideas help to open students minds to thinking about things beyond the scope of the subject.