Woolfolk refers to the types of curriculum as being; formal, which is taught by the teacher to the student, and hidden, which he refers to as being that which is learned by students in the wider school community (Woolfolk, 1995, p174). It is therefore crucial to discuss that whilst the formal curriculum is implemented to cater for all individuals, the hidden curriculum caters for the diverse differences in the school society. These differences can be said to include racial background, cultural background, gender, morality and religion and of course the teacher's own personal belief system. Porter discusses the idea that children learn outside the classroom, through the discipline practises of the school and through their contact with their peers in the playground (Porter, 1996). .
William Glasser stated that the school curriculum is often unrelated to student's lives outside school. He also conferred that student opinions, experience, interests and observations that they bring from home are not valued at school (Glasser,1969, cited by Porter, 1996). The examination of the divergent nature of curriculum must include reasoning as to why this hidden curriculum exists. Fontana puts forth the idea that the hidden curriculum exists in order for all students, regardless of background, to gain a wider understanding of the whole community, beyond the confines of the educational system (Fontana, 1995). If we simply approach curriculum as a way in which knowledge is transferred between teachers and students in the classroom then we are not considering the entire view of curriculum. All of the diversities that exist within the classroom are not catered for within this ideal type of curriculum. Students are constantly learning beyond the classroom, in the playground, by the rules that their .
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school has set and most importantly by the way in which the teachers personal values and attitudes, as well as personality affects the knowledge transfer and exhibition of ideal behaviours.
