Uncovering the Hidden Curriculum
November 9, 2026
Imagine sitting down to play a board game with a group of people who've played it many times before. And everyone but you knows the rules, the best strategies, and even the unwritten conventions around playing this game. Someone hands you the instruction booklet, but it doesn’t cover everything. You can learn as you go, but you’re also trying to catch up while everyone else is already playing.
Similarly, students enter our courses with different levels of familiarity with academic language, academic expectations, and the unwritten rules of higher education. Some may have encountered these expectations before, while others are learning them for the first time.
As part of the Critical Teaching Behaviors Framework, developed by Drs. Lauren Barbeau and Claudia Cornejo Happel, the Include principle invites us to think about equity and inclusion in our course design. One way to put this principle into practice is to examine the hidden curriculum: the unwritten expectations and assumptions that can create barriers for some students. Making these expectations visible helps level the playing field so that all students have a fair opportunity to succeed in your courses.
What is the hidden curriculum?
Philip W. Jackson, in his 1968 book Life in Classrooms, first described the hidden curriculum as the knowledge, expectations, and unwritten rules that we often assume students understand as they navigate college.
Students may be unfamiliar with common academic terms, expectations for interacting with faculty, norms for classroom participation, and other practices that are rarely taught but are expected. These expectations can extend beyond the classroom, too, influencing how students pursue internships, seek research opportunities, and connect with professionals outside of academia.
When we make these expectations visible, students gain the knowledge and confidence to participate fully and seek support.
Who is most impacted?
The hidden curriculum can affect all students, but it can disproportionately impact first-generation, low-income, and international students, students with disabilities, and students from underrepresented and underserved backgrounds.
Some students may have family members, mentors, or other connections who can help them navigate college, while others may have fewer sources of guidance. This can put students on unequal footing from the start.
How can we mitigate it?
We shouldn’t assume students already know the rules. Instead, we can look for opportunities to make expectations more explicit in our teaching. Here are some ways to get started:
Clarify the purpose of office hours.
Explain what office hours are for and how students can use them. When possible, encourage all students to make time to meet with you. Some instructors have renamed office hours “student hours” to emphasize that this time is focused on students and their questions.
Explain how to communicate with you.
Provide students with tips on tone, structure, and when and how to email you, including how you would like to be addressed.
Write clear and detailed assignment instructions.
Use the Transparency in Learning and Teaching (TILT) framework when designing assignments. For instance, explain what you’re looking for when you ask students to “analyze a theory” or “write a lab report.” What does a successful response include? What steps should students take? Being specific helps students understand not only what they need to do, but also why they're doing it and how their work will be evaluated.
Normalize asking for support.
Remind students that asking questions is a part of learning! Share your own experiences with academic challenges. Let them know how to access tutoring, library services, and writing support.
Make AI and academic integrity expectations explicit.
Include your expectations in your syllabus, but discuss them with students, too. UVM’s updated Code of Academic Integrity says, “Work generated by artificial intelligence is not considered to be created by the student and is not permitted unless expressly stated by the instructor.” Go a step further by explaining specifically what AI use is and isn't permitted in your course. You can find resources for communicating your AI policies with students on the Writing in the Disciplines website.
Can GenAI help?
In their book The Science of Learning Meets AI, Ludwig and Zakrajsek suggest that AI can serve as a “transparency partner,” helping us identify assumptions we may not have noticed.
Try uploading an assignment, rubric, or syllabus to Copilot and using prompts such as:
- What assumptions am I making that might be unclear to students who are new to higher education?
- How can I more clearly describe the difference between meeting and exceeding expectations in my assignment rubric?
- How can I more clearly explain what I mean by a well-organized argument?
- Analyze this syllabus for elements of the hidden curriculum. What expectations might be clear to experienced college students but unclear to first-generation, transfer, or international students?
- Identify academic jargon in this document and suggest language a first-year student would understand.
- Explain what "critical analysis" means in this discipline using language a first-year student would understand. Include an example.
Obviously, AI won't replace our knowledge of our students or stand in for our responsibility to create inclusive learning environments. However, it can help us look at our course materials through a different lens and uncover expectations we may not realize we're making.
Dig Deeper
Unspoken Expectations and Student Success: Revealing the Hidden Curriculum (blog post) from the Center for Innovative Teaching & Learning Indiana University Bloomington
A flexible model for exposing and mitigating the hidden curriculum in the transition to higher education (article) Open Scholarship of Teaching and Learning.
The Science of Learning Meets AI (book) Ludwig and Zakrajsek
TILT Higher Ed Examples (website)
The Transparency in Learning & Teaching website contains links to resources in both text and video formats.
As always, we'd love to hear your thoughts or questions about this. (ctl@uvm.edu)
Happy teaching!
Wendy Verrei, Inés Berrizbeitia, and Rainamei Luna
The Center for Teaching & Learning
ctl@uvm.edu
Book a consult with us
www.uvm.edu/ctl