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Should I Become a Physical Education Teacher?

Physical education (P.E.) teachers are educators who instruct students in health, fitness and sports. They may work in public or private schools

(a) Step 1: Complete a Bachelor's Degree Program

Physical education teachers must complete teacher education programs focused on a health and fitness-related subject. Some colleges and universities offer a Bachelor of Science in Education program with an emphasis on physical education. These four-year degree programs prepare students to become teachers for all grade levels. Courses may include kinesiology, exercise physiology, health teaching methods, aerobics, recreational sports and applied physical education.

Most schools include a student-teaching experience towards the end of a physical education bachelor's program, which allows teachers to gain first-hand experience instructing students in classrooms under the supervision of licensed instructors.

(i) Success Tips:

· Get experience working with kids and sports. Aspiring physical education teachers can begin by volunteering at a local community center and interacting with children of varying ages. Volunteers may even get to lead some sports activities, which can give students a taste of what it's like to teach athletic activities. Students can also find youth coaching and refereeing opportunities in most cities.

· Find out state licensing requirements before enrolling in a program. Each state has different requirements, so students should make sure that they'll be able to get licensed right after graduating from the program. This may be especially important for students who plan on getting licensed in a different state than where they went for their bachelor's degree.

(b) Step 2: Become Licensed

While licensure is not required to teach at private schools, all physical education teachers in public schools need to obtain state licenses. Requirements are determined by each state's licensing board. In general, all states require a physical education teacher to hold a bachelor's degree from an accredited teacher education program and pass state licensing exams. Most states require one general exam followed by an exam that focuses on the particular specialty of the teacher.

(i) Success Tip:

· Take continuing education courses. Physical education teachers are usually responsible for maintaining their licensure by earning continuing education credits. The number of credits needed may vary, so physical education teachers should find out the requirements early on to ensure that they can renew their license.

(c) Step 3: Career Advancement

Physical education teachers can find employment at any grade level. Along with instructing students, many of these teachers coach sports teams. As they gain more experience, physical education teachers may progress to higher-paying teaching or department administration positions, such as athletic director or physical education director.

My specialization – track and field athletics

Hill (as cited in Hill & Simons, 1989) described specialization as athletes limiting participation to a single sport, which they train for and compete in on a year-round basis. Baker, Cobley, and Fraser-Thomas (2009) used four para­meters to define early specialization:

1. Early start age in sport

2. Early involvement in one sport (as opposed to participating in several sports)

3. Early involvement in focused, high-intensity training

4. Early involvement in competitive sport

Balyi, Cardinal, Higgs, Norris, and Way (2005) introduced the notion of early or late specialization sports. Early specialization sports (mostly acrobatic and artistic sports such as diving, figure skating, and gymnastics) are defined as sports in which early sport-specific training (by ages 5 to 7) is necessary for future excellence. In these sports, complex movement and sport skills should be acquired before the onset of the adolescent growth spurt (or peak height velocity, or PHV), which is approximately 12 years of age for females and 14 years of age for males. Because one cannot specialize late in early specialization sports, some of the negative consequences of early specialization are unavoidable, although they are manageable. Late specialization sports are practically all other sports, including team sports, racket sports, combative sports, and gliding sports. Late specialization refers to the idea that early specialization is not warranted, and that specializing early in late specialization sports has its own negative consequences (see the next section).

Côté, Lidor, and Hackfort (2009) argued that early diversification (multisport or multilateral involvement in the LTAD jargon) enhances athlete development, whereas early specialization hinders it. They identified the following seven postulates about youth sport activities:

1. Early diversification (sampling) does not hinder elite participation in sports in which peak performance is reached after maturation.

2. Early diversification is linked to a longer sport career and has positive implications for long-term sport involvement.

3. Early diversification results in participation in a range of contexts that promote positive youth development.

4. A lot of deliberate play during the sampling years promotes intrinsic regulation and builds a solid foundation of intrinsic motivation through involvement in enjoyable activities.

5. A lot of deliberate play during the sampling years establishes a range of motor and cognitive experiences that children can ultimately bring to their principal sports of interest.

6. Around the end of primary school (about age 13), children should have the opportunity either to specialize in their favorite sport or to continue in sport at a recreational level.

7. Late adolescents (around age 16) have developed the physical, cognitive, social, emotional, and motor skills needed for investing their efforts into highly specialized training in one sport.

Date: 2015-12-24; view: 1087