Abstract
This chapter addresses everyday educational practices known as the “hidden curriculum” and the related term “implicit pedagogy” in today's dominant postmodern theory. It presents results of a survey with preschool and school teachers (N=813) in Croatia and Slovenia in selected three determinants of the hidden curriculum: empathy, personality traits, and preschool and school teachers' attitudes towards space characteristics. In addition to interesting results describing current conditions in these vital populations of institutional life of children, the chapter is getting closer to answering questions like: “What else do children learn in kindergarten and school?” “What affects children's learning, and is nowhere to be ‘measured' in the context of learning?” “Are the phenomena of hidden curriculum that we want to look at the same in the two neighboring countries, in the same groups of professionals?” This is, in the context of postmodernism and postmodern education theories, one of the crucial points.
TopBackground
Though debates on postmodernism have been alive and flurry since the eighties, they are certainly significant because they determine our lives today with pluralism, multiculturality, and diversity. In addition, the time lag is still too scarce for plausible, objective, general conclusions about postmodernism in upbringing and education, but there are enough arguments for addressing this issue. Pedagogical work of postmodernism is seen by the way of what conception of a child is construed, including educational institutions and their inner habitat that is actually defining their choice of understanding, and accordingly (our) construction of a child and childhood. As explained, from the postmodern view of understanding, between a child and childhood there is no universal data needed to be explored and explained more then pluralism of child and childhood which are being constructed by our own understanding (Dahlberg, Moss, & Pence, 1999). According to that fact, modern and postmodern understanding of education and upbringing can be differenced and that in particular presents the base ground for determination of contemporary pedagogical concepts (Zorec & Krnel, 2009). Therein, it is an inclination from constructive pedagogical approach (developmentally appropriate) to postmodern social constructivism.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Attitudes Towards Space in Kindergartens and Schools: Are the attitudes that a person possesses towards the indoor and outdoor space of kindergartens and schools, and it affects the dedication and importance of the arrangement of the area where the educational work is carried out.
Postmodern Education Theories: Are theories based on postmodernism impling diversity in education philosophies.
Subjective Theories: Represent a way of selecting and evaluating information that enables the conclusion and is formed primarily by interacting with others that are important to that person. To the preschool and school teacher, they allow for more effective action, but may be the source of misguided conclusions, biases, and impressions that do not correspond to reality. Accuracy and inaccuracy in judgment is dependent on individual and cultural factors.
Empathy: Is the ability to identify and understand other people’s problems, situations, and feelings.
Postmodernism: Is an expression widely used to mark the epoch of the second half of the 20 th century and, in the narrow sense, to mark some aspects of thinking and the creation of that epoch. It refers to various interpretations and the criticism of absolute truths and identities in wide range but among others in philosophy, art, architecture, history and culture.
Personality Traits: Are a specific combination of emotional, attitudinal, and behavioral response patterns of an individual.