Time as a Hidden Curriculum: Qualitative Study of Challenges Faced by Students with Mobility, Speech, and Visual Disabilities in P-12 Settings

Abstract

Formal education is schedule driven yet time as a hidden curriculum pertaining to students with disabilities is understudied. The authors share different challenges around disability: The first author has a physical disability and is a wheelchair user and teaches disability and equity studies in education, the second author stutters and teaches speech-language pathology, and the third author is blind and is a white cane user and teaches linguistic and disability courses. Informed by personal and educational disability experiences, the authors examine three case scenarios related to the schooling of learners with mobility, speech, and visual disabilities in P-12 settings to understand the interaction of time and curriculum and the impact on their education. Since time as a hidden curriculum can be a barrier for students with physical, speech, and visual disabilities, then there is a need for the reconceptualization of time within the frame of curriculum development to genuinely support the schooling of students with disabilities.