Benefiting from the Function of Hidden Curriculum in the Development of Critical Thinking among University Students

The most fundamental move to enhance the quality of critical thinking in students is the improvement of motivation to think, as the key to success in life and study. This is because acquiring the skills involved in critical thinking, in the process of official curriculum, cannot guarantee the development of these skills, and consequently, their application in different situations. Therefore, one of the most useful steps with this regard is the enhancement of the attitudinal aspects of critical thinking, paying attention to the function of hidden curriculum in higher education-something which could be in the opposite direction to official curriculum. Thus, the present study, by benefiting from the method of documentary analysis, while clarifying the position of hidden curriculum in higher education and studying its relation to critical thinking, offers the analysis of the apparatus of effects and the use of hidden curriculum in the development of critical thinking. With this regard, it is discussed that the function of hidden curriculum in higher education is due to the fluctuation in the official curriculum-which by itself is due to: lack of a complete legislation of this program in higher education, relation between hidden curriculum and the dimension of critical thinking and attention paid to hidden curriculum in liberal education with an inclination towards critical thinking. In addition, the hidden curriculum, developed out of a dialectical methodology is studied to investigate the development of critical thinking of the learners.