Hidden curriculum is something that is taught within the education system but is not on the official curriculum. This can include things like how to respect authority and the obeying of rules. 1. School mirrors the workplace through: -the use of a formal uniform. –certain rules and regulations to follow. –the need to arrive at a certain set time. 2. ‘Vocational studies’ is connected to a career. Vocational education and training transmits knowledge, skills and attitudes needed to pursue particular careers, e.g. courses in engineering, health and social care, IT or hairdressing and so on. 3. Some factors in the home can contribute to the under-achievement of working class pupils: -lack of books within the home of the individual. –lack of a quiet space in the home. –lack of parental interest in the pupil. 4. ‘Equality of opportunity’ is the concept that all people should be treated equally and given equal opportunities, unhampered by artificial barriers or prejudices or preferences such as class, sex, ethnicity or intelligence, except when particular “distinctions’’ can be explicitly justified. 5. Schools may reinforce existing social class inequalities in three ways: -a hidden curriculum reinforces existing social inequalities by educating students according to their class and social status. The unequal distribution of cultural capital in a society mirrors a corresponding distribution of knowledge among its students. – a teacher may label a pupil as a ‘trouble-maker’ and therefore spend less time with this pupil and therefore they do not engage in the lessons as much as a ‘teachers pet’ and thus they leave school in w worse off position. – Self-fulfilling prophecy also reinforces social inequalities because a prediction may be made about a person or group and because of this prediction it becomes true purely because it has been made. For example,