Occupational Therapy - 2015

4 Living the Implicit Curriculum, Leaving a Legacy Ricardo C. Carrasco This paper introduces the inaugural issue of OCCUPATION: A Medium of Inquiry for Stu dents, Faculty & Other Practitioners Advocating for Health through Occupational Studies. The paper asserts that implicit or hidden curriculum partners with the implicit curriculum, especially in health care education that promotes the students’ journey that employs doing, in the transfor- mative process in being and becoming entry-level practitioners. Ricardo C. Carrasco, PhD, OTR/L, FAOTA is Professor & Fouding Director of the Entry-Level Doctor of Occupational Therapy Program at Nova Southeastern University - Tampa The notion that humans are occupational be- ings predates occupational therapy history. In the words of Aristotle, humans learn by do- ing, therefore to learn to be just, one has to do just acts, for example (340 BC). Fidler & Fidler (1978) used the word “doing and becom- ing” and posited that while early philosophers entertained the idea of human action, the adaptation and transformation of those doing actions into doing something had meaning and purpose had not been explored. In delivering a blended curriculum designed towards entry- level professionals at the doctoral level, the challenge arises in engaging learners in experi- ences that allow for enough “doing” to enhance their “being” towards a continuum of “becom- ing.” Guided by information from the Community of Inquiry model, virtual and face-to-face class- rooms employ learning presences utilized by both students and faculty, challenging everyone towards self-determined learning experiences within the constraints of a lockstep learning calendar, (Garrison & Vaughan, 2008; Hase & Kenyon, 2013). This explicit curriculum comprise the didactic, clinical and scholarly experiences communicated to the public and delivered to the students. While students actively engage in the explicit curriculum, they also particpate in the hidden, sometimes referred to as the hidden curriculum which addresses the learning environment that is committed to diversity and student-centered- ness, not only in the face-to-face classrooms and administrative and advising interactions, but also in the virtual world using the learn- ing management system or other technolo- gies. (Quinn & Bath, 2014: Dutton, & Sell- heim, 2014). Wren (1999) averred that educators need to activate elements in the environment that ad- dress the socialization of students in learning how to learn and understanding the meaning of educational rituals, ceremonies, celebra- tions and routines, including recognition of accomplishments such as awards, pinning and white coat traditions in health care. Such elements of the implicit curriculum contribute not only to the learner’s path of doing, being and becoming, but also devel- oping a sense of belonging, thus contributing to their personal growth and professional socialization (Hitch, Pepin & Stagnitii, 2014; Wilcock, 1999). The birth of the virtual com- munity called CHAOS, or the Community and Health Advocacy through Occupational Studies, and its companion publication called OCCUPATION, A Medium of Inquiry for Students, Faculty and Other Practitioners Advocating for Health through Occupa- tional Studies accentuate a coordinated effort among students, faculty and other scholars