What lies beneath? Capturing the hidden curriculum in the development of Indigenous Australian cultural competence

Historically in nursing, the hidden curriculum has been identified as the praxis for the theory–practice gap. It is the unique and authentic experiences that are presented to learners while on clinical placement and influence professional growth. The hidden curriculum has the potential to create meaning in formal classroom settings (Saifan, Safieh, Hannen, & Shibly, 2015; Budgen & Garmoth, 2008). Learning that occurs beyond the curriculum is an area that has been explored in higher education with theorists recognising that this learning is beneficial to the development of metacognitive and overall personal development (Bentley, 2012). However, little is known about the influence of the hidden curriculum in the development of Indigenous Australian cultural competence. Unique findings were unearthed through research that focused on the lived experiences of undergraduate nursing students’ studying Indigenous Australian cultural competence that highlighted the importance of the hidden curriculum. For some participants the hidden curriculum involved comparison of learning prior to their course and new knowledge. For others, it involved exploration of their relationship with their own culture that stimulated new learning on their journey in Indigenous Australian cultural competence. Essentially, the hidden curriculum is important to participants’ growth and development in Indigenous Australian cultural competence. The outcomes of this research evidence the need to support learners in unearthing the hidden curriculum in Indigenous Australian cultural competence. This style of learning takes courage from both 12 educator and learner (Power, Virdun, Sherwood, Parker, Balen, Gray & Jackson, 2015). Unearthing the hidden curriculum provides a holistic approach to education, and creates individualism (Bulman & Schutz, 2013) that impacts and influences the personal journey in Indigenous Australian cultural competence. This learning was vital to the participants’ journey in Indigenous Australian cultural competence. This paper will provide recommendations through the lived experiences of participants on ways to reveal and nurture the hidden curriculum in the journey of Indigenous Australian cultural competence.