Through JSU’s Health and Physical Education Teacher Education (HPETE) program, you can transform your passion into a degree that will empower you to be an effective physical education teacher in the elementary and high school settings.
Our Health & Physical Education prepares students to successfully teach quality Physical Education to students in preschool through 12th grade and Health Education to students in grades 6 – 12.
The curriculum directly aligns with Alabama State Department of Education physical education and health education standards, as well as SHAPE America National Standards. Coursework in HPE begins with foundations of motor development, movement concepts, knowledge of team and lifetime activities and science-based courses such as kinesiology, exercise physiology and biomechanics.
Coursework then becomes more immersive into the school setting as students are taught topics such as classroom management, instructional design, lesson planning, modifications and accommodations for students. These hands on “early and often” courses cover elementary, secondary, and adaptive physical education as well as health education in the classroom setting.
Students develop skills in creating a positive and productive learning environment, assessment in both physical and health education and monitoring large groups of students effectively. Our program also demands responsible and ethical behavior from students in every educational setting.
Our HPE program believes students need hands on experience “early and often” in a variety of school settings. Our students are immersed in adapted physical education shadow teaching, university supervised practicum in physical and health education, and cooperating teacher supervised instruction pre-internship which leads to an entire semester of quality internship in elementary, secondary, and health education settings. The primary goal of these various experiences is to provide students with ample opportunities to apply the coursework knowledge in school environments.
Students are also required to successfully complete the Physical Education Praxis and Health Education Praxis prior to internship as well as the performance-based portfolio edTPA assessment during internship. Once complete, HPE graduates earn an Alabama State Department of Education Physical Education certificate (P-12) as well as a Health Education certificate (6-12).
