The authors of this Topics in Education article, who are both occupational therapy educators, reflect on challenging concepts related to decolonizing occupational therapy education, an idea they first encountered at the 2018 World Federation of Occupational Therapists Congress. They acknowledge that Western views heavily influence the occupational therapy concepts they teach to their students. The downside of approaching occupational therapy education and practice primarily from a Western worldview is that occupational therapy students and practitioners may perpetuate societal inequities through their practices and are not well-prepared to address the occupational needs of individuals and communities around the world. This article describes existing alternative views, including occupational consciousness, cultural humility, and ubuntu, and how these concepts can be applied to occupational therapy practice and education. Practical recommendations are made about reconsidering how occupational therapy concepts are taught in educational settings and applied in practice. Comments The authors report that they have no conflicts of interest to disclose.
Evidence suggests that pediatric occupational therapists predominantly use bottom-up, impairment-focused theoretical frameworks and assessments to guide their practice, despite the current trends promoting topdown, occupation-based approaches. Understanding a child's volition, guided by the use of the Model of Human Occupation, contributes to a more occupation-based, client-centered, holistic, and strength-based approach to therapy. Two assessment tools, the Volitional Questionnaire and the Pediatric Volitional Questionnaire, contribute to a therapists' understanding of children's volition. These assessments facilitate therapists' clinical reasoning and the ability to assess and address volition throughout the occupational therapy process.
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