Constructing an occupational therapist in the reflective practice group: a space for action-reflection-action.

Abstract

Occupational Therapy training demands diversification of scenarios and teaching-learning strategies. In the third cycle of the practice unit at UFSCar, students are subdivided into reflective practice groups, in the process of active methodology, anchored in the constructivist spiral. This study reports this experience through the thematic analysis of the teaching records. Topics include (a) initial reflections: welcoming reception and institutional issues; (b) understanding of the people undergoing care in occupational therapy; (c) place of field/service/institution; (d) the singularities of the subjects; (e) reflections on being an occupational therapist; (f) responsibilities, concepts, and tools of work. Such space for reflection distances itself from the urgent demands of the practice, which satisfies the students, who notice their feelings, concepts, and values that must be revisited and, sometimes, modified for the exercise of the professional practice.