Function of hidden cirruculum in the process of acquisition of social skills

The aim of this study is to determine social skill levels of 5th-grade students in primary schools in Elazığ and the function of hidden curriculum in the acquisition of these skills. The study was done in four primary schools chosen within the scope of the study in 2009-2010 academic year. The schools where the study was surveyed were determined according to social skill levels of the students.In the study both qualitative and quantitative research designs were used. The data of the study were obtained from social skill rating scale, observation and interviews. The social skill rating scale prepared by the researcher consisted of 32 items. Bartlett?s test of the scale was measured to be 2000.0; KMO value was calculated to be .988. Cronbach Alpha reliability coefficient of the scale was calculated to be .986. In addition, unstructured observations were done in the study. The interviews were done with teachers, students and parents, and they were performed with interview form technique. While SPSS-16 statistical program was used to analyze quantitative data, N-VIVO-8 was used to analyze qualitative data.In the end of the study, through the observations done in four primary schools determined according to social skill levels in a term and the interviews at the end of these observations the function of the hidden curriculum in the acquisition of social skills was determined in each school. Accordingly, the function of the hidden curriculum in the acquisition of social skills was presented according to school, teacher and the student. In schools, the function of the hidden curriculum was determined in terms of activities-celebrations, classroom climate, communication, physical environment, problems of fights and security. The function of the hidden curriculum for teachers was determined according to support, expectations, communication, modelling, punishment and time use. For the students, social skills, social skill deficiency and the reasons of acquisition of these skills were determined and why they cannot use these skills was researched. In addition, the similarities and differences of the hidden curriculum among the schools determined to have low and high social skill levels were presented. Based on the study results, it is recommended that the importance of hidden curriculum and necessary precautions should be taken into consideration in terms of social skills. Similar studies are also offered.Key Words: hidden curriculum, social skills, teacher, student, school, primary education.