Tenth International Conference on Health, Wellness & Society

Abstract

The purpose of this online lightening talk is to describe a collaborative effort between two university programs, a Health and Physical Education (HPE) teacher education program, and a wellness literacy physical activity program to develop innovative internships for HPE students. HPE programs desire high-quality internship placements and university physical activity programs represent an accessible and authentic field placement opportunity that the HPE programs can leverage. Likewise, university physical activity programs are often under-resourced and in need of consistent, high-quality instructional support and HPE programs can serve to bolster the instructional capacity of such programs. Given each program’s unique needs and potential to help the other, a collaborative approach, when designed properly, can be mutually beneficial. Such an approach has been successfully utilized for an extended period of time by the presenters. Therefore, the presenters desire to share issues associated with the development, implementation, and assessment of this type of collaboration. The focus of this talk addresses (a) teacher education standards and guidelines for appropriate practice in university physical activity programs (b) potential benefits and liabilities for each program; (c) instructional supervision practices; (d) preparing HPE students; (e) logistical considerations including course selection, facility scheduling, resources, and performance assessment.