Navigating the Zimbabwean high school curriculum with assistive technology: Facilitators and barriers for learners...

Globally, learners with blindness face barriers to equitable curriculum access in mainstream education despite inclusion commitments. Zimbabwean mainstream high schools reflect these challenges, where learners with blindness encounter persistent obstacles to full participation. Centered on assistive technology, this study used criterion-based purposive sampling to recruit six self-selecting learners through resource units in three high schools across provinces, ensuring diverse perspectives. Grounded in Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA), the study examined facilitators and barriers to equitable curriculum access. Employing IPA procedures of iterative reading, line-by-line coding, theme development, and cross-case analysis, with participant validation through transcript review and follow-up interviews, six learners shared their experiences. Four themes emerged: access to visual curriculum resources, complementary support, assistive technology competence, and barriers to its application. Learners demonstrated agency through creative use of mainstream technology, supported by collaborative networks and community involvement rooted in Afrocentric values of collective care. Barriers included technical failures, power outages, social discomfort, and exclusion from extracurricular activities. Socially and culturally embedded pre-service and in-service teacher training in assistive technology, emphasizing specialized and mainstream tools, is essential. Inclusion remains incomplete without systemic commitment to removing barriers, empowering learner agency, and implementing the Expanded Core Curriculum (ECC) holistically.