Coming into Focus: The Need for a Conceptual Lens

Abstract

This is such an incredible honor. I want to thank all of my colleagues who were involved in the nomination process, with a special thank you to Dr David Morris, who coordinated the nomination packet. I also want to thank the Education Section Awards Committee for selecting me for this honor, and Pauline Cerasoli's family members, who were instrumental in designating funds for this lecture. Finally, I want to recognize all of the previous Cerasoli lecturers for their inspiring thoughts about physical therapy education.Although I didn't know Polly well, I had the honor of interacting with her on 2 occasions. We were first introduced by a mutual acquaintance at a reception at a conference in the late 1980s. A year or so later, on a connecting flight on the way to yet another conference, I happened to be seated across the aisle from Polly. We recognized each other and chatted off and on throughout the flight. My perceptions of Polly, based on these interactions, were that she was warm, greeting me with a bright smile and a gracious manner even though we had only met once before; witty, displaying a wry sense of humor that I could relate to; and wise, with insightful observations about professional issues we discussed. As a tribute to Polly, I will do my best to try to reflect those qualities-warmth, wit, and wisdom-in my remarks today.INTRODUCTIONThis is an exciting time for the profession of physical therapy. There has been lively dialogue about the future of physical therapy practice and education, beginning with the Physical Therapy and Society Summit (PASS)1 and continuing with an Innovation Summit on Collaborative Care Models,2 the networking conference, Preparing the Next Generation of Physical Therapists for Innovative Practice,3 and a Clinical Education Summit4 in 2014. In addition, the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) adopted a far-reaching vision statement in 2013: Transforming society by optimizing movement to improve the human experience.5As a result of these initiatives, a picture of the physical therapist of the future is emerging. We envision movement system experts who are leaders, innovators, collaborators, and entrepreneurs who can synthesize rapidly changing information, integrate advances in technology into practice, and have the flexibility to thrive in an evolving health care environment. That vision creates an exciting but challenging opportunity for educators, as we develop academic and clinical learning experiences to prepare future physical therapists. As I considered the vision for the future of physical therapy and reflected on a topic for this lecture, I decided that the timing was right to begin some dialogue about future curricular models for physical therapist education.My objectives for this presentation are that learners will be able to identify factors affecting the need for revision of current curricular models, describe principles of concept-based curricular models, and analyze potential opportunities and challenges for implementation of a concept-based curriculum model.My overarching goal is to stimulate thought and discussion about the type of curricular models that will be a good fit for the future needs of the profession and of society.The Spiral of LearningIt will come as no surprise to anyone who has worked with me or taken a course with me that I am beginning this session with the spiral of learning (Figure 1). Constructivist Learning Theory holds that we each have a unique spiral of learning in which our previous knowledge, beliefs, bias, and experiences are swirling around.6 When new knowledge enters the spiral, 1 of 2 things can happen. The new knowledge can either be integrated with previous knowledge or experiences or it can squirt out the sides of the spiral of learning. The key to minimizing squirtage, if you will, is relevance. The more relevant the information, the more likely it is to be assimilated into the spiral of learning. …