The educational dimension in the praxis of social occupational therapy with young people from urban popular groups

Abstract

Taking popular participation and democracy—both in the micro and macro spheres—as an ideal of society, offering spaces for learning the “skills” that ensure these processes is essential. From a broad understanding of education, taking Paulo Freire as a reference, this text reflects on an educational dimension in the praxis of social occupational therapy. To this end, it relied on a brief experience report developed by the METUIA/UFSCar center with young people from urban popular groups and the management and technical team of a Youth Center in the municipality of São Carlos, state of São Paulo, Brazil. For six months, Workshops of Activities, Dynamics and Projects were developed with these young people, and meetings were conducted with this team to discuss the nature of this space, its possibilities of use, and its rules. These workshops and meetings revealed the existing conflicts between the young people and the team, and discussions about strategies to face these situations were proposed. The recognition of an educational character in/of social occupational therapy practices is advocated through the promotion of dialogue and awareness, aiming at social participation and the exercise of citizenship.