Physical EducationI. Brief introduction

Physical Education
    Welcome to further education information week. This is the Physical Education Faculty’s session and I’m the head of the Faculty. During the course of this morning, we hope to give you a clear idea of what we offer in our training programs and we will look at the types of courses and the entry requirements, if any, for those courses. Some of these courses are open to school leavers, but for some of courses you need previous qualifications, or relevant successful employment.
    So firstly, the Physical Fitness Instructor’s course is offered as a six-month certificate course which includes an important component of personal fitness but there are no specific entry requirements.
    For Sports Administrators we provide a four-month certificate course but you should be aware that this is designed for those who are in employment. This employment must be current and related to sports administration.
    For the Sports Psychologist’s course we offer a one-year diploma course, but this diploma course is available only to those who already hold a degree in psychology, so you need to make sure you have that before you apply to do this course.
    For Physical Education Teachers, this degree course is designed for preparing students to teach in primary and secondary schools and needs no prior qualifications as it is entered directly by school leavers.
    And lastly for the Recreation Officer’s course, we offer a six-month certificate. Entry to this course normally includes applicants of a wide range of ages and experiences, but we do not insist on any prerequisites for this course.
    All Physical Education Activity courses stress the recreational and carry-over values of that activity rather than the ability or performance level of the students. One credit courses are offered on a quarter basis and meet for two hours of class per week for a half semester. Grading is on a "pass or fail" basis contingent upon attendance and participation in the activity. A maximum of four one-credit physical education courses are applicable toward graduation, but these courses are not required. Students are encouraged to register for second and fourth quarter classes during regular fall and spring registration. Remember that this is a vocational training institute. We train you so that you can take up a particular kind of job. So it is important that you know the main roles of the jobs — what the work is like and what kind of qualities you need to succeed at them.
    A Physical Fitness Instructor works in health and fitness centres preparing individual programs for ordinary members of the public. Physical Fitness Instructors prepare routines of exercises to suit the individual client’s age and level of fitness.
    Sports Administrators run clubs and sporting associations, making sure a sports event works smoothly by planning and controlling the business, finance, marketing and organization. Their duties include such things as booking playing fields with local councils and organizing the schedule of games or events for the club, so they need good organizational skills. The specific responsibilities of a sports administrator can vary considerably according to the level of their post, the organization they work for and its context. These can range from routine administration, managing high-spec complexes and resources, to working with a regional and national, political and ethical profile.
    Sports Psychologists spend time with professional athletes helping them approach competition with a positive mental attitude to enable them to achieve their personal best. They do this by improving motivation and concentration or assisting with stress management. Sports psychology is a branch of sports science. It is the scientific study of the psychological factors that are associated with participation in sport, exercise and other types of physical activity.
    The contribution made by sports psychologists is in two areas: helping athletes through psychological treatment methods to achieve optimum mental health and enhance sporting performance (often involving techniques like visualisation and relaxation); conducting research to understand how participation in sport affects an individual’s psychological health and well-being throughout their life span.
    Physical Education or PE Teachers instruct young students in how to exercise, play sport, and do other recreational activities correctly and safely. PE Teachers help the development of coordination, balance, posture, and flexibility with things like simple catching and throwing skills. The followings are the major responsibilities of being a PE teacher. Most of the time you will be in charge of teaching health and/ or PE classes during the day. Many teachers have to teach at more than one school. At the secondary school you may have to teach a Health class or two. Coaching is another duty you may choose to do especially early on in a career. In fact, you may choose to coach several sports. You are not expected to be experts in all sports, but must be able to show students the basic techniques involved in a wide range of activities. Other duties that you may have to partake in during the day. And, of course you will need to attend faculty and parent-teacher conference meetings throughout the year. Lastly, many physical education teachers are required to do a year-end Field Day or a physical education show of some kind.
    Recreation Officers often find themselves working for local government authorities and local groups. Their aim is to raise people’s awareness of healthy lifestyles and improve general fitness through arranging recreational activities for groups of all ages from the very young to the elderly.
    There are many other job opportunities which our graduates can look forward to. If you are interested in any of these, please drop in on me later. So much for today.