REDEFINING, REFRAMING, AND REDESIGNING PHILIPPINE PHYSICAL THERAPY EDUCATION

Abstract

UNESCO launched the Future of Education: Learning to Become initiative in 2019, “with the aim of rethinking education and reimagining how knowledge and learning can shape the future of humanity and the planet” (UNESCO, 2020, p. 7). Over the recent years, physical therapy education in the Philippines was affected by a number of changes in the country’s educational landscape, including the introduction of K-to-12 in basic education, the implementation of a new outcomes-based tertiary-level curriculum aligned with K-to-12, the shift to flexible learning approaches during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the resumption to in-person learning as we recover from COVID-19. Evolving national and global needs and priorities likewise shape the landscape of higher education and need to be taken into account in envisioning the future of physical therapy education moving forward. In this light, the roadmap for Philippine physical therapy education is being developed as part of the Competitiveness Roadmap for Physical Therapy. Such PT education roadmap is intended to: (1) REDEFINE the purpose of PT education within global, national, and local context and needs; (2) REFRAME the future of PT education given the changing landscape of education, health care, and professional practice; and (3) REDESIGN PT education to ensure its relevance, responsiveness, and sustainability.