Time and cognitive development: from Vygotsky’s thinking to different notions of disability in the school environment

Abstract

Abstract The perceptions about the structure of time are deeply entrenched in people’s minds. As such, they do not reveal themselves directly but are mediated by how it is possible to articulate concepts that assume these perceptions. This paper assesses how the notion of time can affect cognitive development, looking at Vygotsky’s works on defectology and other references, given that there is a gap regarding this articulation in specialized literature. For this purpose, it is argued that the notion of time often departs from an equivocal assumption of a linear time structure, influencing how we lead with disability issues in teaching and learning processes. The findings also show some consequences of such a departure in the conceptualization of deficiency, development, and time to the issue of the visibility of the so-called deficient, particularly concerning the school environment.