Health and Physical Education

Reputation

The West Chester University K-12 Health and Physical Education Program has an excellent reputation among school districts. In fact, many local educators earned their degree here.  The quality of our program matters not only in shaping the quality of educator you will become but also in helping you land a job.  Having a WCU health and PE degree increases your chances of being hired versus less quality-oriented programs.   

Job Placement Success and Salary

Health and physical education alumni from our program have had excellent success securing teaching jobs. The university and the program devote substantial energies and resources to helping teaching candidates earn their teaching license and successfully compete for jobs.  Pay varies between school districts but as an example, the West Chester Area School District pays first-year beginning teachers a salary of $52,000 per year.  The top of the salary scale is $106,000.

Hands-on Learning in Local Schools

Teacher candidates get real-world teaching experience early and often in our program. The experiences are planned, sequential, and progressive to maximize both success and learning. Nearly every health and physical education pedagogy course, including the introductory class (HPE 108), incorporates public school teaching.  An added benefit of this approach is that teacher candidates learn early in our program their interest and suitability for teaching HPE.

Innovative Curriculum

• Wellness – The program incorporates an innovative approach to health and physical education called wellness education. Teacher candidates learn to promote comprehensive well-being across multiple domains of wellness including physical, social, emotional, and intellectual wellness.  Teacher candidates also learn to coordinated wellness throughout the school (recess, lunch, transportation, etc.), not just in the gymnasium or health classroom. 
• Lifetime Emphasis – The program focuses on teaching health-enhancing skills and physical activity skills that can be used for a lifetime. Teacher candidates become proficient in various fitness, outdoor, individual, aquatic, racket, and dance activities.  The seven activity classes are taught by full-time faculty in a manner consistent with best practices in physical education.
• Pedagogy – Teacher candidates will find that they are engaged with one another and the content in meaningful ways. The faculty practice what they preach by involving students in the learning process through creative projects, technologies, and teaching methods.

Faculty

The faculty are foremost excellent teachers whose primary role is to help you become exceptional HPE teachers. We want to get to know you and make a connection; you are not a number!  We also focus on student success which means helping you do well in your classes, grow as an individual, and enjoy your time at the university. 

Stable, Meaningful Career

Being a health and physical educator is a wonderful career.  You are the quality of life teacher in a school empowered with helping K-12 students lead healthy, active lives.  In addition, teaching is a stable and secure career upon which an individual can build a meaningful future.