Melody Klatt

Social Justice Reflection

OCCT 657B
3/28/16
During my academic career at Touro University Nevada, I believe it could almost be safe
to say that I learned the most about social justice, because I had never even heard of the term
before I started in the program. Of course there were concepts related to social justice that I was
familiar with - such as ideas of helping in the community and volunteering - but I had much
more understanding to gain in relation to those concepts, as well as other concepts related to
things such as the value of action over awarenes that were under-emphasized in my mind until I
actually gained experience through the program. I had had classes in the past, in my
undergraduate career, that emphasized the importance of awareness, but I believe that what I
learned through Touros occupational therapy (OT) program took everything a step further and
challenged the concept that simply being aware of cultural and societal issues and diversity is
enough to demonstrate a value of social justice.
There are two social-justice-based artifacts in my portfolio that I would like to highlight
as a representation of my growth in this area. The first artifact is the PowerPoint presentation
that some of my classmates and I created for our Social Justice course, because the process of
creating that project - and going the through the class itself - was one of the most significant
learning experiences in relation to social justice that I had during my time at Touro. I grew
vastly in my understanding of that action-versus-awareness concept, as well as in my
understanding of how to be sensitive and helpful in practice in regards to social justice issues.
The discussions, activities, readings, and final projects that we took part in during that class

helped to build a more solid foundation for me as a practitioner who plans to practice concepts of
social justice in the future, and I am very grateful for that experience.
The second artifact that I would like to highlight is the fact sheet on foster care that I
created for some of the therapists at the site where I completed my first Level II fieldwork
rotation. At the pediatric clinic where I was working, we happened to treat a large number of
children who were in foster care, and after I ended up realizing that the therapists at the setting
had a limited understanding of a lot of the inner-workings of the foster care system, I ended up
deciding to share the knowledge that I had acquired about the foster care system through
working on the final class project for our Social Justice class. The act of putting together the
material and sharing the information was a way for me to practice implementing social justice in
an actual clinical setting, and this was a truly invaluable experience for me.
Through experiences like the ones that were demonstrated in the aforementioned
artifacts, as well as through all other social justice activities that I took part in during my time at
Touro, I believe that I have grown significantly in my understanding and appreciation of social
justice. I believe that I am much better equipped to implement these concepts in practice as an
OT, and I look forward to continue in my efforts to support values of social justice as I enter into
my professional career. I specifically hope to continue to grow in areas of taking advantage of
advocacy opportunities, as well as being an example to others and encouraging those that I work
with to take part in social justice opportunities in and outside of practice.