A career in Education!

Question

I am seeking getting a degree in Education and I had a general question pertaining to this. I want to become a teacher to the younger children and I think I have found what I want to specialize in. I want to teach Physical Education(PE) and possibly a health class. I find that I have a passion for health and wellness and I also know that there are many young kids who are obese and simply do not get enough exercise or eat healthy enough. So I want to teach a gym class so we can do all sorts of fun activities together and therefore everything would be a win win situation. Then I could teach a health class to them to show them the basic essentials to life and what every body part is responsible for. I just want to be part of the youth world and I really feel passionate about this. I have had many opinions about other careers, but I really believe this career would help better myself as a person and I get to help others in the process. So if you get an online degree in Education, can you use that towards teaching anything in school, or do I have to specialze in Physical Education? I know I want to be part of every other great teacher out there that is living a very fulfilling and prosperous lifestyle. Thank you to everyone and have a great week!

Answer 1

It all has to do with the state you live in.  Contact your states Education Board about what the standards are for PE teachers.  Since each state is different, I really can't say much more.  But in Texas to teach PE you need to have a degree in kinesiology and education for the grade level you want to teach.  Just check with your state's education board, I've looked up a couple of states for you.

Answer 2

If you are wanting teach the little ones then you are trained in all subjects. If you are teaching high school you focus on a single subject, in your case PE.  

Answer 3

You'll need to get a BA to start. This you can do online - make sure the school is accredited.

Now you have two problems that I notice with your question.

First - PE teachers generally work at the secondary level. Surely there are some that work with elementary kids - but there is usually a limited number if one at all at most elementary schools. Often they work in a pull out manner. Why does this matter? less job availablility.

Second - You cannot teach with simply a BA - you need a credential. This is a post-bac degree - often taking two years to complete and there are none offered online. You need to do this at a traditional school, because it needs to include a student teacher portion that is mentored by a university mentor. There are no online schools that offer this - Dont be confused by online schools offering online masters degrees in teaching - different thing.

If you already have your BA, contact a local 4 year college and look into their teacher education program - If your BA is not in a health or physical education field - you will be required to take some more classes.

good luck to you!

Answer 4

It will depend on the state, but generally you will need a specialized degree in physical education. Most of your core courses will focus on pedagogy of teaching children and your specialized courses will focus on health education. Keep in mind: an online degree in education does NOT mean that you don't ever have to go into the classroom. As a student, you'll likely be doing 15-20 hours of service learning in a classroom and at least one half time internship and a fulltime internship as well. Any education degree is very involved with you being in a school. And if you do go the online route, be sure it's from a nationally accredited school. If it's not accredited, your degree will be worthless.