10. Our Null Curriculum

In education there are three methods of information transfer: explicit, implicit and null. We witness explicit and implicit information transfer all the time. If your teacher claims, “the current political state of America is a mess," then you understand it to explicitly mean that America currently has problems. Yet we also understand implicitly she's directing the source of those issues to the government currently in office. Explicit information transfer deals with the literal words or text that is communicated. The “facts” of the statement. The implicit information transfer is the assumptions and conclusions one can draw from the explicit. If someone tells you, “it will rain today,” you understand they are implicitly warning to remember an umbrella when you leave your house. Explicit and implicit learning over time develops into a curriculum. We recognize much regarding our explicit and implicit behaviours and tendencies (our own curriculum), however, we seldom think about the third method, the null curriculum.

The null is what is communicated by virtue of not communicating something. Sounds a bit complicated, right? Let me give an example. Let's say the teacher congratulated students for doing their math homework but does not say anything whether they finished their English homework. Explicitly, we understand she is pleased the math homework was completed. Implicitly, we assume that finishing the math homework again would please her once more. But only though the null (what she didn't say) can we understand that maybe she doesn't value English homework as much. It's not just she said, but also what she didn't say. Often what we don't say is just as important as what we do say. What we don't do speaks about who we are just as much as what we do.

I don't drink alcohol. Period. I have never drank a beer in my life. I have never tasted vodka or whiskey. And I don't plan to. It's personal choice based on what I value and what believe will help me remain effective. I've always seen this abstinence as something passive. It was something I didn't do so it didn't really require any active action on my part. But over the years I've come to realize just how "active" this commitment is. People would coerce me to drink with them and I had to refuse, even having to explain myself. Saying “no” is hardly a passive act. I learned that what we say “no” to speaks just as loudly about ourselves as what we say “yes” to.

When we first meet people there comes the classical conversation point, “what do you do?” What we do is something we display, it's the explicit curriculum where we educate others on who we are. Because it's visible, it gets talked about. Because we can see it, we ask about it. However, I believe learning what people don't do is just as important, if not more important. You learn people’s values and deep personal convictions more quickly when sharing a conversation about what you both choose not to do. We actually connect deeper through each other’s null curriculum.

Identifying your null curriculum is monumental for self-awareness. What are things you choose not to do? Why not? Are they intentionally abstained from? These are not easy questions. The more honest you are with your answers you may find some of these answers actually might hurt your ego. About a year ago, I asked myself the question, “how come I don't regularly exercise?” Exercise didn't play a regular part of my life, it was part of my null curriculum. I addressed this question first by making excuses. I was busy after all. I was relatively healthy with no major health concerns. Besides, I was a student, I didn't have time or money to invest in going to the gym. But after peeling layer behind layer of excuses I embraced the prickly truth. I was being lazy. I was preferring immediate comfort over engaging my full physical potential. Surfacing my null curriculum allowed me to evaluate if my actions were truly aligned with my deep values. I valued progress and autonomy, yet my current exercise-less lifestyle was not lending to promoting those values. I knew many years down the road I would suffer much autonomy for not exercising now. I also understood a healthy lifestyle leads to higher present energy and stamina, for greater daily productivity. I was able to self-evaluate and change. I began to exercise.

It's so crucial to evaluate what you do and why you do what you do. It's equally worthwhile to evaluate what you don't do, and why not. When learning about ourselves let's not forget our null curriculum.