Structuring Education: Development of the First Educational Standards in Occupational Therapy, 1917–1930

The movement to standardize educational preparation in occupational therapy grew as the profession developed following World War I. This paper explores the debates that surrounded the evolution of occupational therapy’s first sanctioned educational system. A variety of professionals involved in the formation of occupational therapy engaged in these debates. They focused their attention primarily on whether education should be regulated and, if so, how that education might be structured. Each coveted different views about how the fledgling profession might develop. These early debates signify one of the first attempts to identify a vision for the evolution of occupational therapy.