Abstract
Background: The OT profession is calling for intentional pedagogy that builds future practitioners’ capacity for embodying justice, diversity, equity, and inclusion (JEDI) values; however, the interpretation and application of this mission remain subjective and nebulous. Developing a theory-driven audit tool may help standardize and clarify JEDI pedagogy needs to enhance OT preparation and practice.
Objective: Using a culturally responsive, justice-based theoretical lens, this paper describes the development of a JEDI Curriculum Audit Tool for a Post-Professional Doctor of Occupational Therapy (PP-OTD) program.
Design: Quantitative systematic evaluation of curricular alignment with JEDI principles, including a 3-prong retroactive self-evaluation approach.
Setting: Curriculum audit and data analysis occurred via the institutional online learning platforms and Microsoft Excel.
Participants: Thirteen courses in a single PP-OTD program.
Discussion: Applying the JEDI Curriculum Audit Tool 1) yielded valuable program-level and course-specific insights into if and how JEDI-infused learning was occurring and 2) informed specific recommendations to enhance JEDI-informed pedagogy.
Conclusion: Overall, this quality improvement self-audit project serves as an example of how theory-driven approaches can support standardized evaluation and ongoing refinement of JEDI-infused OT education.
Plain Language Summary: This brief report outlines an example of developing and applying a curricula audit tool to objectively evaluate the pervasiveness of JEDI-informed pedagogy for a doctor-level OT curriculum. Using a theory-driven approach informed by current JEDI frameworks, the audit tool provided valuable program-level and course-specific insights regarding how effectively this program was embedding JEDI themes into its curriculum. It also informed specific recommendations for improving observable gaps in pedagogy. The development of objective measures to evaluate and improve OT education, such as the one presented in this paper, can support standardized evaluation, sustainable implementation, and ongoing refinement of JEDI-informed OT preparation.
DOI
10.32873/unmc.dc.tso.2.2.03
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 License.
Recommended Citation
Cranna, W. M., & McKinnon, S. (2025). Developing a Curriculum Audit Tool for Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion in Occupational Therapy Education. Translational Science in Occupation, 2(2). https://doi.org/10.32873/unmc.dc.tso.2.2.03
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Curriculum and Instruction Commons, Disability and Equity in Education Commons, Occupational Therapy Commons, Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Commons