Transactions of Cognitive Equivalence in Hidden Curriculum Domains, 'Work' and 'Play.'

Exploratory research on some aspects of the cultural theory of education in concept development are reviewed and the research findings are outlined. Three hypotheses tested are 1) that children will have cultural mappings (systems of codes for perception and action) that differ from adults; 2) that children at different ages will show a development in the complexity of these rules; and 3) that this development will be in the direction of the rules held by those who have a stable and consistent pattern of effectively structured encounters with the children. The outline of the findings focuses on the development of selected dimensions of the work domain found in children in a suburban elementary school from ages 5 to 12 using a picture-sorting technique. Cultural premises of work held by children and adults are stated. It is shown that children and adults who share the same cultural premise about work have used that premise to construct different work protocols. Young children seem to use principles that are unidimensional and perceptionally concrete, while adults have categories that are complex, multidimensional and perceptually abstract. The development in complexity for children is toward the adult principles. The findings demonstrate that children have principles of cognitive mapping that are internally consistent and different from those of adults. (Author/KSM)