What is formal education?

organised teaching in institutions with a set curriculum. It leads to tests and qualifications.

Which is an example of informal education?

learning to cook by helping a parent. It happens in everyday life.

What is the official curriculum?

the subjects and content that schools set out to teach and test. It is written down and examined.

Which is part of the hidden curriculum?

learning to be on time. Nobody teaches a lesson called punctuality.

How would a Marxist interpret the hidden curriculum?

as training pupils to be obedient workers. Obedience in school prepares for obedience at work.

Formal and informal education · Cambridge IGCSE Sociology

In plain words

You learned to tie your shoes without a syllabus, and you learned algebra with one. Both are education. School also teaches a third set of lessons that appears on no timetable, and sociologists find those the most interesting.

7 things to know

Education is the process of learning knowledge, skills, norms and values. Schooling is the part of it that takes place in schools.
Formal education is organised teaching in institutions such as schools and colleges. It has trained teachers, a set curriculum, tests and qualifications.
Informal education is the learning that happens in everyday life, from family, friends, the media and experience. It has no timetable and no exams.
The official curriculum is what schools set out to teach and test: the subjects on the timetable, the syllabus content and the examinations.
The hidden curriculum is the set of norms and values that pupils learn at school without being formally taught them.
Examples of the hidden curriculum: punctuality, learned from bells and timetables. Conformity, learned from rules and uniforms. Respect for authority, learned from obeying teachers. Gender roles, learned from what is expected of girls and boys.
Sociologists judge the hidden curriculum differently. Functionalists say it teaches the shared values that society needs. Marxists say it produces obedient workers. Feminists say it reinforces gender inequality.

Worked example

A school rings a bell every 50 minutes, makes pupils line up in silence, and gives prizes for full attendance. What is being taught through the hidden curriculum?

The bell teaches punctuality and that time is organised by others.
Lining up in silence teaches conformity and obedience to authority.
The attendance prize teaches that turning up reliably is rewarded.
None of this is a subject on the timetable, which is why it is called hidden.

Tips and tricks

Official curriculum: what is taught on purpose and tested. Hidden curriculum: what is picked up from the way school is run.
Give examples of the hidden curriculum as pairs: the lesson, and how it is learned. "Punctuality, from bells and timetables."

5 questions, about 2 minutes.

It lands in your notebook with its questions as flashcards.

Formal and informal education: 5 questions and answers

These are the quiz’s questions. Do the quiz first, then come back here for the ones that got you.

What is formal education?
- learning from friends
- organised teaching in institutions with a set curriculum (the answer)
- learning from television
- learning by accident
It leads to tests and qualifications.
Which is an example of informal education?
- a timetabled science lesson
- learning to cook by helping a parent (the answer)
- a university lecture
- an examination
It happens in everyday life.
What is the official curriculum?
- the subjects and content that schools set out to teach and test (the answer)
- the school's rules on uniform
- the friendships pupils make
- the jokes teachers tell
It is written down and examined.
Which is part of the hidden curriculum?
- the mathematics syllabus
- the history examination
- the list of set books
- learning to be on time (the answer)
Nobody teaches a lesson called punctuality.
How would a Marxist interpret the hidden curriculum?Stretch
- as teaching shared values that benefit everyone
- as having no effect
- as mainly about gender
- as training pupils to be obedient workers (the answer)
Obedience in school prepares for obedience at work.

5 questions

Tap an answer and you’ll see straight away whether it’s right, and why.

Worksheet

3 questions, 10 marks. Write your answers on paper, then check them.

Formal and informal education

Cambridge IGCSE Sociology 0495 · 10 marks · papermunch.org

Name ______________________________ Date ______________

What is meant by the term "hidden curriculum"?[2]
Show answerHide answer
The norms and values that pupils learn at school without being formally taught them, such as punctuality and obedience.
I got this one
Describe two differences between formal and informal education.[4]
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Formal education takes place in institutions such as schools, and informal education happens in everyday life. Formal education follows a set curriculum with trained teachers and qualifications, and informal education has no timetable, teachers or exams.
I got this one
Explain two things that pupils learn through the hidden curriculum.[4]
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Any two, each explained: punctuality, through bells and timetables; conformity, through rules and uniforms; respect for authority, through obeying teachers; competition, through tests and prizes; gender roles, through different expectations of girls and boys.
I got this one

Answers: Formal and informal education

1. The norms and values that pupils learn at school without being formally taught them, such as punctuality and obedience.
2. Formal education takes place in institutions such as schools, and informal education happens in everyday life. Formal education follows a set curriculum with trained teachers and qualifications, and informal education has no timetable, teachers or exams.
3. Any two, each explained: punctuality, through bells and timetables; conformity, through rules and uniforms; respect for authority, through obeying teachers; competition, through tests and prizes; gender roles, through different expectations of girls and boys.