Why study K-12 Teaching
Students who want a career in which you can enjoy sports, physical activity, behaviors that promote wellness, and give back to children or youth through teaching or coaching while fulfilling a critical role in helping people lead an active lifestyle.
The K-12 grade physical education teaching concentration provides students the opportunity to prepare for teaching health and physical education and obtain initial teaching licensure. The Tennessee Department of Education currently is estimating 2,200 teacher vacancies, with many being in the area of health and physical education. The faculty have real experience in teaching in a k-12 setting and have completed extensive research to help students with their learning. The upper-division concentration courses all have low student-to-faculty ratios, which gives the opportunity for students to become the best possible future teacher. The program is unique by providing future teachers multiple field experience opportunities ranging from instructing for a homeschool physical education program to providing rhythm and dance instruction to a local elementary school. Furthermore, this program lays the foundation to lead an active lifestyle by giving them the skills, knowledge, and dispositions to lead a physically active life.
What will I learn
- Elementary and secondary pedagogy for health and physical education.
- Variety of in-depth content knowledge for health and physical education (e.g. pickleball, badminton, health-related fitness, skills-based health education).
- A desire to be a lifelong learner by fostering reflective thinking and decision-making.
- How to organize and represent content.
- How to design and teach lessons to meet an objective.
- How to develop and establish rules, routines, and expectations.
- How to use feedback, cues, and prompts to correct and shape student learning.
Program Information
K-12 Teaching Program Requirements
Health and Human Performance: K-12 Teaching, BS Sample 4 year Plan
Professional Licensure Disclosure
Students should be aware that licensure and certification requirements vary from state to state and are subject to change. Licensing agencies or boards also may have requirements in addition to an earned degree. APSU recommends that students who are not Tennessee residents or who plan to seek licensure or certification outside the state of Tennessee contact the appropriate licensing agency or board before they enroll in an academic program designed to lead to licensure or certification and discuss their plans with an advisor.
Please visit the Professional Licensure Disclosure webpage to review specific licensure information for your state and academic program.