By Jon Poole on Monday, April 02, 2001 - 04:54 pm: Edit

Do you see yourself primarily as a physical education teacher? A health education teacher? Both?

How do your students see you? Your principal or peer teachers?

I have found in my limited explorations that increasingly secondary physical educators are also the primary health education teachers. I have also found too many of these teachers have a limited background in school health curricula (save a single class or two during an undergraduate program), and even less experience with effective classroom teaching strategies. I know from personal experience at three universities that student teaching is typically the first time many physical education majors actually have to stand in front of a classroom and teach a lesson on health.

In these times of increased public scrutiny and accountability for the tax dollars spent on public education...it seems vital that Health and Physical Education (HPE) be taught in a coordinated approach with equal value placed on each subject area. In fact, I would argue that many of our parents and politicians would support health education over physical education if it ever came down to a vote!

I encourage all secondary HPE teachers to demand their local college and universities adopt a coordinated approach when preparing future teachers.

Jon Poole
PELINKS4U Secondary Section Editor

By Paul Zientarski on Wednesday, May 02, 2001 - 12:29 pm: Edit

I disagree with Jon about PE and Health being taught in a coordinated approach. Health is a subject area that is important and unique. These two subjects are certainly related and similar messages need to be sent by both the Pe and Health teacher. However I believe that Health needs to deal with issues that can't be dealt with correctly in large group sessions (Most PE classes are larger than other classes). The coordinated approach often turns students off when forced to sit and listen or discuss issues of importance like self esteem, time management, stress management, substance abuse and sexual issues.

By Anne McKay on Monday, June 11, 2001 - 04:41 pm: Edit

This is an interesting area of debate. In New Zealand we have a realatively new curriculum that has been written as 1 curriculum with 2 subjects Health and Physical Education with aspects of Home Economics. Many of us are taking the following approach - Healtha nd Physical Education are 2 distinct subjkects with seperate identities but there can be overlap in some topics or contexts. As discussed there are implications for teachers. Yes many PErs are teaching health but they should only do so if they want to, have background knowledge and recognise that it can be a different approach.What we are finding in schools is that mangement are timetacbling them together so the Physical Educator has to take Health as well - not alwauys an ideal situation. It also excludes other teachers who want to or are very good health teachers.
On the other side we do have tension between the purist Health teachers who do not belive Physical Educators can and should teach Health. The debate continues.
Personally - I am a Physical Educator and a Health educator.

Anne

By Annette Hemstreet on Monday, August 27, 2001 - 03:54 pm: Edit

In the late 70's and on into the mid 80's Health and Physical Education were taught together. My health teacher was also my Phys. Ed. teacher. He was a good "P.E." teacher but as a Health teacher, let me just say, it was like have two Phys. Ed. classes. Gaining health knowledge was vital to young people then but even more so today. The increase of unhealthy behaviors and health risks young people take today is phemonenal and it's frightening to think were and how it may end. Now, I'm the Health teacher and supervisor of the Physical Education dept. in my High School. I don't think that Phys. Ed. teacher should not teach or are not qualified to teach Health, but I do think that colleges and universities need to focus on preparing quality HEALTH teachers, because in college, in order to gain more health knowledge on top of my "School Health Education" degree program, I enrolled in nursing courses and minored in Physical Education. I'm with Jon on this issue, encourage the colleges and universities in your area to promote health education as a core subject area.
Annette