Student education
Ruth Hawley talks about the delivery of an innovative session to MSc occupational therapy learners at the University of Derby , teaching the Kawa Model outdoors .
Student education
Feature
An outdoor , creative teaching method
Ruth Hawley talks about the delivery of an innovative session to MSc occupational therapy learners at the University of Derby , teaching the Kawa Model outdoors .
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T he Kawa Model ( Iwama 2009 ), a therapeutic method developed in Japan , is well-established within occupational therapy education in the UK .
Kawa ( the Japanese word for river ) uses the metaphor of a river and considers the water flow , banks of the river , boulders and driftwood as different elements to represent aspects of life flow and occupational journey .
Kawa ’ s utility as both a model for occupational therapy practice and as a reflective tool means it is regularly covered in the curriculum . Perhaps due to its visual representation , it lends itself to more creative teaching methods , with photographs often seen on social media of sessions about Kawa that have used art and craft resources .
Metaphors are powerful tools for conveying complex amounts of information in simple ways , as they can be explored on multiple levels . However , without knowledge of , or tangible prompts about , the nature of the object used as the metaphor , they can also be hard to grasp and make sense of .
Therefore , knowledge of , or opportunities to explore or consider in more depth , the object on which a metaphor is based , can help to develop depth of understanding .
For this reason , beginning in March 2020 , an innovative outdoor teaching session on Kawa has been used at University of Derby , making use of the brook that runs through the park opposite the university campus .
As occupational therapists we have expert skills in understanding how ‘ doing ’ influences learning and in the adaptation of the environment for optimal occupational performance . Both these skill sets were instrumental in preparing for and implementing the interactive experiential outdoor teaching session .
The session moved between locations within the park that offered opportunities for the students to observe and / or interact with specific
50 OTnews September 2023