How to become a physical education teacher

At the School of Exercise Science, Physical and Health Education (EPHE), there are multiple pathways for completing the courses you need to teach physical education in schools. These include:

• completing a major in physical and health education
• completing a major in kinesiology and taking additional courses associated with physical and health education teaching (and an additional teachable subject area if you choose)
• completing a degree in another department and a minor in physical education
• completing an undergraduate degree at the University of Victoria or elsewhere, and then completing courses related to physical and health education teaching as a non-degree student at UVic

Once you complete one of these pathways, you can apply to the Bachelor of Education post-degree professional program (PDPP). Designed for current degree holders, the PDPP prepares you to teach physical and health education in secondary school. You can then apply for certification as a teacher in British Columbia.

Teaching pathways

The following table outlines the advantages of each pathway, as well as other considerations to keep in mind.

Pathway	Advantages	Other considerations
Major in physical and health education	Includes all courses needed to meet requirements of physical and health education teachable area Electives can be used to meet requirements of a second teachable area	Program cannot be applied to directly Students first apply to Bachelor of Arts in Recreation and Health Education program and request a transfer after first year
Major in kinesiology with physical and health education courses	Includes all courses needed to meet requirements of physical and health education teachable area Electives can be used to meet requirements of a second teachable area	Important to decide on pathway as early as possible to plan electives May require extra courses as part of degree
Non-EPHE degree with a minor in physical education	Allows you to apply for PDPP after completing a degree in another department	You can only request to add the minor once you have completed EPHE 141
Physical and health education courses as a non-degree student	For students who have already completed an undergraduate degree Available to current UVic non-degree students as well as non-UVic students	Applicants must first complete a physical and health education teaching area self-assessment form and submit it to the program assistant Non-degree students then apply to UVic to take courses required to quality for PDPP

For questions about the use of specific courses in the self-assessment worksheet, contact Education Advising.

Contact us

If you have any questions about one of the above pathways, please reach out to the EPHE academic adviser.