THE UNIVERSITY IN COVID-19 PANDEMIC: REPORT OF EXPERIENCE AT THE LAB OF EMANCIPATORY AND TERRITORIAL PRACTICES (LAPET)

Abstract

During COVID-19 pandemic, social practices were drastically changed in Brazil. It impacted institutions, groups and individuals. Among them, occupational therapy and public university needed to recreate their practices, in order to properly respond to the crisis in this complex context, beyond the sanitary issue, Brazil faces economic, ecological, ethical and political problems. This report aims to inform the actions developed by the Lab of Emancipatory and Territorial Practices, (LAPET, by its initials in portuguese), anchored in the occupational therapy graduation course, at a federal university of the south of Brazil. Due to the new conditions imposed by social isolation, learning practices, research and extension were recreated. Coherent and unified actions were performed to advocate for social policies toward emancipation, specially concerning social assistance and health care workers. Participative methodologies were used, prioritizing dialog and horizontal relations. Critical educational that ruptures with school system were proceeded with under graduated students in group studies, and other instruments. Essential workers also participated of the educational processes through interviews, emancipatory workshops, and other technological resources. The driven practices bring tension to the regular occupational therapy graduation curriculum and become instruments of reality apprehension, benefiting social justice and transformation.