The philosophy of the Department of Occupational Therapy is consistent with the Philosophical Base of the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA), 2017. The statement of philosophy of the Occupational Therapy Department emphasizes that:
It is the philosophy of the Department that humans are self-directed, adaptive, occupational beings. As such, their development (emotional, spiritual, social, cognitive, and biological) occurs in the context of occupation. Learning comes about through immersed exploration of diverse practice environments, collaboration, service, reflection, and creative thinking. In the view of the Department, teaching is enabling, knowledge is to understand, and learning is the active construction of subject matter. We believe learning is contextual in three ways: new knowledge is acquired by extending and revising prior knowledge; new ideas acquire meaning when they are presented in a coherent relationship to one another; and knowledge becomes usable when it is acquired in situations that entail applications to concrete problem-solving.
Philosophy of Teaching and Learning
The Le Moyne College Department of Occupational Therapy philosophy of teaching and learning is rooted in a non-linear and multidimensional approach to learning where the cognitive, emotional, and social dimensions of the learner are considered. In addition, the programs philosophy of teaching and learning incorporates the 5 principles of the Ignatian pedagogical paradigm which include:
- Context- understanding life and culture
- Experience- providing intellectual and affective learning opportunities
- Reflection- of meaning for self and others
- Action- the external expression of learned content and
- Evaluation- of student growth.
Consistent with these influences, the faculty of the Le Moyne OT program employ a variety of instructional methods throughout the curriculum intended to promote integration of occupational therapy knowledge and skills with students’ existing and developing context, promote meaningful engagement with curricular content through experiential learning and reflection, and foster action and ongoing evaluation. Instructional methods utilized include but are not limited to multimodal presentation of content (lecture, PPP, videos, and readings), focused small and large group discussion, role-play, peer teaching and collaboration, experiential activities, problem-based and case-based learning, reflection and self-evaluation.