Hysj : En kritisk didaktisk relasjonsanalyse av Curriculum Silentium; den skjulte policyen for taushet om arbeidsrelatert kritikk hos ansatte.

• Main Author: Holte, Kjersti Lien
• Format: Doctoral Thesis
• Language: Norwegian
• Published: Karlstads universitet, Avdelningen för arbetsvetenskap 2009
• Subjects: Communication; risk management; organizational silence; concealment in organizations; loyalty; workplace participation; whistelblowing; resistance; feelgood work; passive aggressive behavior; work related criticism; democracy at work; Hidden curriculum; hidden policy; rituals; voice; organizational behavior; organizational learning.; Other social sciences; Övrig samhällsvetenskap
• Online Access: http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kau:diva-4405; http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:isbn:978-91-7063-259-4

This study has developed a tool for explaining why employees fail to speak up with regard to work related criticism; there is a hidden policy of silence that teaches employees to remain silent. This hidden policy is here designated as the "Curriculum Silentium" and is described in detail on the basis of empirical and theoretical data. After identifying a gap between the intentionally and experienced policy for employees freedom of speech in organizations I suggest that there are on-going unofficial, partially hidden learning processes in the organizations. The overall research question is; How does the Curriculum Silentium; the hidden policy of silence among employees, look like?  I make an analytic construction of the hidden policy as if it were planned policy, using the didactic categories applicable to organizations. These didactic categories are: goals, content, teaching strategies and the motivation of employees. The empirical data was collected in three different organizations: an elementary school, a home for the elderly and a factory in the process industry, using qualitative methods such as interviews and observation. The theoretical foundation of the study is taken from existing theory within the field of work life research and educational science. The study is not a comparative study of the three organizations, but does involve a comparison of whether and how the Curriculum Silentium is expressed in three such different organizations. The challenge of examining hidden relationships in organizations was met through the development of guidelines for an analytical approach called a critical didactic relations analysis. The study concludes that a hidden policy of silence resembling that presented here exists in organizations where employees fail to voice working life related criticism.