Education as engine.
The pull of education is a powerful engine for societal change. Education is a values-driven product with specific and objective aims that serve society. The values of professional occupational therapy education were laid down at the field's inception, although they have changed with the passage of time and in response to the profession's and society's occupational needs. Learning is different from education and is an individual process that requires facilitators with well-honed pedagogies if it is to fuel the engine pulling the profession forward. Keeping occupation as the central core of the profession serves as a necessary filter that allows more diligent thinking and linking between occupation and other relevant topics. Living life to its fullest-our own lives and the lives of our service recipients-demonstrates progress in the idiosyncratic arrangement of habits and routines that are personally meaningful, socially satisfying, and culturally relevant.
Maralynne D. Mitcham, PhD, OTR/L, FAOTA, is Professor and Assistant Dean, College of Health Professions, Medical University of South Carolina, 151B Rutledge Avenue, MSC 962, Charleston, SC 29425; mitchamm@musc.edu.
Maralynne D
MD
Mitcham
D002983:Clinical Competence; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D007858:Learning; D017145:Models, Educational; D009788:Occupational Therapy / Q000193:education*; D024382:Professional Role; D012951:Socialization