Exploring the Hidden Curriculum Experienced by African American Female Students and the Academic Achievement Implications

• In Event: Experience, Affect, and Race

Abstract

Overall African American females in the United States are falling behind their White male and female peers academically. This is concerning as it creates social and economic implications for this specific population and the broader African American community ((NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, Inc. [LDF], National Women’s Law Center [NWLC] 2014, p.1). For example, Pollard (1993) stated that previous research has attempted to explain this issue by identifying three probable factors: 1) psychological factors, such as unfavorable self-identity; 2) equity issues related to school resources, teacher expectations, and expulsions; and, finally, 3) structural conditions in American society, also known as racism. An additional area of concern regarding African American females’ school behaviors and performance, though there is limited research, is the school’s hidden curriculum. African American females continue to be controlled by Eurocentric White images and norms and held in low regard by the White teachers and other staff (Collins, 2000, p. 5).The hidden curriculum is loosely defined as part of the culture, which is inclusive of unstated norms, values, beliefs, and social expectations created and upheld by the dominant population (Esposito, 2011; Garcia & De Lissovoy, 2013; Langhout & Mitchell, 2008). Because adults can only imperfectly access the reality of African American females’ experiences and understand their perceptions, the primary focus of this study is capturing their previously unpublished voices and realities around the greatest contributors to their academic experiences as this relates to the hidden curriculum.

Collins, P. (2000). Black feminist thought: Knowledge, consciousness, and the politics of
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NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF), National Women’s Law Center
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Pollard, D. (1993). Gender, achievement, and African-American students’ perceptions of their school experience. Educational Psychologist, 28(4), 341-356.

Author

• Jantina Anderson, Indiana University - Indianapolis (IUPUI)