Art Analysis in Occupational Therapy Education: Building Foundational Skills and Reflective Awareness of Implicit Bias

Occupational therapy education requires instructional approaches that help students move beyond memorizing foundational concepts to applying them in meaningful ways. This instructional insight describes the integration of structured art analysis into a first-semester Occupational Competence course as an experiential strategy for teaching the Occupational Therapy Practice Framework (OTPF-4) and activity analysis. Through individual, classroom, and museum-based learning experiences, students engaged in guided observation, discussion, reflection, and application using artwork as a low-risk context for developing observational and interpretive skills. Evidence of student learning included confidence surveys and written reflections completed throughout the instructional sequence. Students reported increased confidence in applying OTPF concepts and activity analysis, while reflections demonstrated greater awareness of how personal experiences and implicit bias can influence interpretation. Students also described the importance of considering multiple perspectives and avoiding premature assumptions before drawing conclusions. By intentionally connecting art analysis to occupational therapy practice, this instructional approach helped students apply foundational occupational therapy concepts while fostering reflective awareness that supports thoughtful professional judgment. Structured art analysis offers occupational therapy educators an engaging and adaptable strategy for promoting active learning and preparing students to apply foundational knowledge in future clinical practice.