Analyzing the Role of the Hidden Curriculum in the Formation of Students’ Academic Self-Concept and Social Identity
Keywords:
Hidden curriculum, academic self-concept, social identity, students, thematic analysis, TehranAbstract
This study aimed to explain the role of the hidden curriculum in shaping students’ academic self-concept and social identity in secondary schools in Tehran. This qualitative study employed a thematic analysis approach. The participants were 24 lower- and upper-secondary school students from Tehran, selected through purposive sampling with maximum variation in gender, grade level, school type, and educational district. Data were collected exclusively through semi-structured interviews, and interviewing continued until theoretical saturation was achieved. Each interview lasted approximately 35 to 60 minutes. After verbatim transcription, the data were analyzed using NVivo software following the main phases of thematic analysis: familiarization with the data, initial coding, searching for themes, reviewing themes, defining and naming themes, and producing the final report. Data analysis led to the identification of five main categories: “invisible rules of academic valuing,” “labeling and hidden comparisons,” “discipline, obedience, and institutional silence,” “peer culture and boundaries of belonging,” and “recognition, participation, and being seen.” The findings indicated that the hidden curriculum shapes students’ perceptions of their academic abilities and social position through informal teacher interactions, unequal distribution of attention, implicit reward and punishment systems, unwritten standards of success, and peer relations. Students who experienced recognition, participation, and respect reported a more positive academic self-concept and stronger social belonging. Conversely, experiences of exclusion, negative comparison, and enforced silence were associated with academic self-doubt, alienation, and fragile educational identity. The hidden curriculum is not merely a set of implicit messages within school life; rather, it functions as a powerful mechanism that may either strengthen or undermine students’ academic self-concept and social identity. Systematic attention to school relationships, interactional justice, student participation, and the hidden culture of schooling can support academic self-belief, social belonging, and identity development among students.
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