Hidden curriculum: the untold narrative
Bashir Uddin
The hidden curriculum in Pakistan has changed over the last decade, which may alter the behavior of 21stcentury learners. The current public gifts to learners include hate speeches and slogans like why shot the bullet, which are meant to indicate the massacre between civilians and guardians of the country. These transferring notes between civilians and the military-induced government are unrecognizable in the dizzying yet invigorating fray of partisan struggles.
Additionally, the youth are experiencing an environment that is constantly going through adverse slogans where millennials perceive terms like haqeeqi azadi (true independence), aayeni haqooq (constitutional rights), jamhoori baladasti (democratic supremacy), pur aman ihtejaj (peaceful protest), civil nafarmani (civil disobedience), aayini bench (constitutional bench), civilian case and military court etc.
These are not only terms to hear but are barely whispered in the quiet narratives portraying the society’s culture. Despite the lack of a debating classroom environment, our 21st-century learners are auditioning these opinions or disagreements on prevailing political deliberation on a daily basis.
Nowadays, the government is showing hatred toward the opposition benches, and the opposition benches are holding strikes; the learning minds are observing all these, but the inherent truth is that the power is with us – the public. Someone needs to change this channel. Though this is hidden and perhaps the hidden curriculum that is shaping the social behavior and emotional attitude of our youth toward citizenship education and civic rights under the perceived narratives of brute force and conviction. Maybe we are going to produce a generation who will be radically different from that of the global demands for opportunities. This may create a risk of confusion for the learners when they think about relating classroom learning with their daily life experiences.
The hidden curriculum for 21st-century skills is more about the values that currently describe us as humans and less about the animosity we show to others on an ongoing basis. Children are observant of the differences between opinions and facts, hyperbole and dialogue, court orders and public reactions, missing persons and democratic rights, etc. They witness both the humble attitude employed by certain individuals and the hostility shown by brute power and authority.
Moreover, if headlines are repeatedly on corruption, money laundering, illegal imprisoning, digital terrors, etc., and social addresses are in the form of hate speeches, then such scenarios will ultimately have a negative impact on the learning minds. Today’s youth reject the insincere notion of economic stability because the potential intellectual courage of children is changed. No matter whether they are taught the notions of serving humanity, citizenship education and digital citizenship through textbook content, their daily experiences with real-life scenarios are totally different and this has a vital role in building up the learning minds.