If you’ve never heard of the “null curriculum” you are not alone. Perhaps you are a teacher and you did study about it when you were going through college. If I studied it while I was in college, I don’t remember doing so. According to our textbook by Pazmino, the “null curriculum” are the things that you do not teach that you either meant to teach, but forget or can’t teach because of time restraints. The “null curriculum” fits into the “explicit curriculum” and the “hidden curriculum” to make up the whole of what a teacher could teach. The “hidden curriculum” are the things that you don’t necessarily put in your lesson plans or aren’t necessarily a learning objective, but you teach it anyway. One example of this might be if a teacher tries to teach her students to treat each other with respect. She may not have this in her lesson plans or it may not be a learning objective, but it is being taught nonetheless. An example of “null curriculum” might be if a teacher has to skip a chapter in a textbook because there was a day lost due to weather. The teacher has to make the decision to keep it in or take it out and what is the most important thing for the students to learn. That is what a teacher does. All of those things comprise the curriculum.

It wasn’t part of our reading this week, but next week part of our reading includes chapters from our Beckwith, Craig, and Moreland text. In one of the chapters, Dembski defines intelligence, according to etymology of the word, as “choosing between.” Intelligent people weigh all the options and then make choices. This makes sense because in Proverbs 14:6 (NIV) it says, “The mocker seeks wisdom and finds none, but knowledge comes easily to the discerning.” Intelligence can be inherited, but I think it can also be learned by teaching students, children, friends, and colleagues how to make choices when given many options. Maybe you are more intelligent than you thought!

Blessings to you and yours.

Dembski, W. (2004). An information-theoretic design argument. In F. Beckwith, W. Craig, & J. Moreland (Eds.), To everyone an answer (pp. 77-94). Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic.

Pazmino, R. (2008). Foundational issues in Christian education: An introduction in evangelical perspective. (3rd ed.). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic.