Teachers’ Hidden Curriculum and its Role in Promoting Citizenship Values Among Primary School Students in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Abstract

The aim of this study is to examine the extent to which primary school teachers in the Eastern Region of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia practice the hidden curriculum with their students. The study also aims to identify the role of these teachers’ practices in promoting citizenship values ​​in primary school students in the Saudi community, and to provide suggestions based on the results. The researcher used a mixed approach method, with the necessary data collected by applying a questionnaire to a stratified random sample of primary school principals.  Furthermore, personal interviews were conducted with a sample of primary school teachers to identify their practices of the hidden curriculum with students, which reflected behaviors that enhance citizenship values in primary school students. The study team prepared its tools, and its psychometric properties were verified before applying them to the sample. The study population   consisted of all teachers and school principals of public primary schools in the Eastern Region of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The results identified the most common practices of the hidden curriculum that teachers apply with their students. The results of the study also revealed that there are statistically significant differences in school principals’ estimation of teachers’ practices of the hidden curriculum according to the variable “years of experience”, in favor of principals with more than 10 years of experience, while there are no statistically significant differences in school principals’ estimation of the teacher’s practices of the hidden curriculum according to the “gender” variable.