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Ideology in a simple form, is taken to mean, “...the ‘system’ of ideas, beliefs, fundamental
commitments, or values about social reality” (Apple, 2004, p. 18) and “...represents the
imaginary relationship of individuals to their real conditions of existence” (Althusser, 1984,
p. 36). This is applied to the relationship between how official knowledge in school
curriculum is established and maintained and the broader issues that influence what is
included and excluded, such as social, political and economical. Furthermore, by seeing
ideology as “a system of beliefs by which we make sense of the world” (Stephens as cited in
Pinsent, 1997, p. 1), the sense-making that History textbooks communicate to students can be
located for analysis. In particular, when the term is used as part of the methodology, the work
of Althusser (1984, 1971) and Gramsci (1957, 1971; Fairclough and Wodak, 1997) plays a
significant role in informing the application of this term specifically in connection with
notions of hegemony in school curriculum and public discourses. The following extract
provides a definition of ideology, in relation to discourse analysis, that this project takes:
Ideologies are constructions of practices from particular perspectives (and in that
sense ‘one-sided’) which ‘iron out’ the contradictions, dilemmas and antagonisms of
practices in ways which accord with the interests and projects of domination. The
effect of ideologies in ‘ironing out’ (i.e., suppressing) aspects of practices is what
links ideologies to ‘mystification’ (Barrett 1991, p. 167) and ‘misrecognition’
(Althusser 1972; Bourdieu 1991). Ideologies are discursive constructions, so the
question of ideology is part of the question of how discourse relates to other
moments of social practices… (Chouliaraki & Fairclough, 1999, p. 26)
Hidden curriculum, a term coined by Jackson was originally defined as:
…the crowds, the praise, and the power that combine to give a distinctive flavor to
classroom life collectively form a hidden curriculum where each student (and
teacher) must master if he [sic] is to make his way satisfactorily through the school.
The demands created by these features of classroom life may be contrasted with the
academic demands—the “official” curriculum, so to speak—to which educators
traditionally have paid the most attention. As might be expected, the two curriculums
are related to each other… (Jackson, 1968, pp. 33-34)
Since this initial definition, its use and understanding has expanded significantly (see, for
example, Hansen, Driscoll, & Arcilla, 2007; Giroux, 2006; Apple, 2000; McCarthy, 1990,
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