RT Curriculum Reform

Just today (the same day as my last post on the need for RT to have an agreed upon framework) I ran across this quote:

"I believe therapeutic recreation curricula in general are weak and we are producing inadequately prepared students. There are countless reasons for this; many appear to be beyond the control of the individual therapeutic recreation educator. The weakness is not in specific programs, but in lack of uniformity among programs. A major factor is lack of a commonly accepted philosophical statement to guide curriculum development and implementation." (Bold print added)

This quote might have been from a number of individuals now engaged in thinking about curriculum reform -- including me. But it is not! It is from 1980 (Isn't that over 26 years ago!) And do you know who is quoted, not me but Carol Peterson (in the Proceedings of the First Annual Post-Doctoral Institute, Indiana University, Bloomington, May 21-23, 1980).

Two things stand out to me in reading Carol's statement. First, we are way, way behind in bringing about RT curriculum reform. Second, today's curriculum reformers need to acknowledge that "a lack of a commonly accepted philosophical statement to guide curriculum development" remains a major issue.