About Us

Values

Our view of humanity and learning is congruent with the profession’s philosophy of education. Students are occupational beings who actively engage in the dynamic and transactional teaching/learning process. The program strongly values the role occupation plays in health determination and views occupational participation as a fundamental human right. Thus, our curricular design is built around adult learning principles, Fink’s (2013) Taxonomy of Significant Learning, and is influenced by Hooper’s (2017) Subject-centered Integrative Model for Occupational Therapy (SCIL-OT). This approach ensures we utilize relational, integrative and ultimately transformative methods in the learning context to foster the learner’s personal growth and socialization in the profession.

Philosophy

Our program embraces the profession’s philosophy that engagement in meaningful occupations is a basic human need and a human right. Occupation is the core mechanism through which individuals experience health, identity, and participation across the lifespan. As occupational beings, humans shape and are shaped by their engagement in occupation across personal and environmental contexts. Our program is grounded in an occupation-centered perspective of health, using occupation as both the means and the end of therapy to support the well-being of individuals, groups, and populations throughout the lifespan. In addition, we recognize that participation and engagement in occupations can and must be used to advance the health and well-being of individuals, groups, and populations. Finally, we believe that occupation occurs across diverse personal and environmental contexts that influence participation and occupational experience.

The University of Arkansas OTD Program is compliant with the Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education (ACOTE) standard A.5.4.