Information and Resources for Professional Development

Professional development is key to becoming/staying up to date with current practices. Below are some ways one can expand their expertise:

SHAPE ​America Appropriate Practices

  • 5.1.1 The teacher continually seeks new information to stay current (e.g., reads journals, attends conferences and in-services).

Articles on Professional Development

​Additional Degrees/Certifications

​Contributing to the Profession

Getting Feedback

Physical Education Blogs

Use the search bar below to search topics from the blogs listed here.

Physical Education Podcasts

  • ​​Believe Move Grow: My name is Daniel Elias, a Physiotherapist with a mission to improve the health of children and young people to facilitate a healthy, happy existence. Every week I’ll be interviewing experts in the field of exercise, cognition, mindset training, psychology, nutrition and sleep, with the aim to find out what the leading clinicians, researchers and teachers are working on to allow children the chance to reach their full potential in a healthy, balanced way.​​​​​​​​​​
  • ​CoachPatChat: Coach Pat talks about physed, play, fitness, and mindfulness.
  • Global PhysEd: The Global PhysEd Voxcast is dedicated to providing health and physical education teachers around the world a platform to learn and share best practices. We showcase some of the top minds in our field and attempt to analyze their success and learn from their experiences.
  • ​OPENForum: We are here to provide you with the news, helpful insight and more from the world of Physical Education! Released on a semi-monthly basis, we will be tackling an immense number of topics, including ones that you the audience suggest!
  • PEPRN: This podcast explores PE practitioners' views of research. I set out to achieve this by discussing the previous week's PEPRN Blog with pre-service and in-service physical education teachers and physical eduction teacher education (PETE) practitioners. The aim of the podcast is to better understand the impact and the take home messages that emerge from research on practice in PE.
  • PE Express: Teaching kids to live an active and healthy life isn’t an easy task, and one that leaves physical educators with little time to focus on their own growth. That’s why we gathered PE experts to share a quick tip, activity idea or teaching strategy in 3-minute episodes that you can listen to anytime and anywhere.
  • PE Insights: Conversations about Physical Education with Nathan Walker.
  • ​PhysEdCast: Stories from around the #PhysEd world to inspire and innovate your practice. Join host Nathan Horne from iPhys-Ed.com as he explores the world of physical education and coaching.
  • ​​PhysEquity​: The current teaching workforce is not representative of the young people that we teach; one of our aims are to raise the profile of physical education through the voices that are often not represented within the field. We hope to drive change through encouraging more global majority physical educators into the field, engaging global majority physical educators in research and new experiences and making changes in physical education to promote equity.
  • ​Playing with Research in HPE: We discuss research, theory and current issues in the fields of health and physical education in an easy to understand way. Our aim is to make research accessible to educators and university students from all over the globe.
  • ​Run Your Life Show with Andy Vasily: Host Andy Vasily interviews inspiring leaders from professional sports, the field of education, and the health and wellness industry to unpack what striving for excellence means and to learn more about the guiding principles that shape their work.​​​​
  • Scaling the Summit: Join us for candid conversations with movers and shakers within the physical and health literacy fields as a resource provided from the National Academy of Health and Physical Literacy.​
  • SHAPE America: The SHAPE America Podcast offers exclusive content from the world of Health and Physical Education. This professional development tool features interviews with SHAPE America Teachers of the Year and other Health and Physical Education champions discussing relevant topics in the field. The goal of the podcast is to provide the audience with tips from leaders in the profession, challenge their thinking, and offer new ideas to try in their setting.
  • SHAPE America Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion: SHAPE America’s EDI Podcast will explore a variety of topics relating to equity, diversity, and inclusion in health and physical education. Each episode will feature insightful interviews and discussion with invited guests, podcast host Sean Nevills, and the rest of the EDI Podcast team.
  • Shapes of Identity: The Shapes of Identity Podcast is a collaboration between SHAPE New Jersey and SHAPE Philly. This podcast is dedicated to discussing identity, how identity impacts us as humans, and how we felt like the topic area was not being sufficiently addressed within our professional organizations. This podcast series is dedicated to the breaking down the topic of identity to learn how it is shaped and how it impacts us as humans.​​​​​
  • ​​SuperSized PhysEd: The Supersized Physed Podcast is dedicated to providing new ideas, activities and inspiration to our physical education field. Each week a new episode about various physed topics comes out, sometimes with a guest, sometimes it's just me! My goal is to offer inspiration to all sized PE groups, but especially to large groups grades K-5.Our Around the Horn Health and Physed podcast is an ESPN-style show in which panelists answer questions for points in a set amount of time. A winner is declared at the end of each show!
  • ​​The Daily PhysEd: A daily #physed podcast with Nathan Horne from iPhys-Ed.com. Daily reflections, tips, techniques and ideas for making physical education more purposeful.
  • ​​The PE Geek: The PE Geek Podcast is the number one destination for anyone interested in utilising technologies within their Physical Education classroom. The Podcast explores current tools, trends and classroom proven ideas.
  • ​The PE Umbrella: After months planning, the PE Umbrella Podcast was born in October 2015 with the simple aim of providing actionable advice that could be implemented immediately and make a difference around the world on a weekly basis. Now, over 200 episodes later we continue to fly the flag for outstanding Primary PE around the world through our interviews, reflections and free resources.
  • ​​The #PhysEd Show: The PE Geek Podcast is the number one destination for anyone interested in utilising technologies within their Physical Education classroom. The Podcast explores current tools, trends and classroom proven ideas.
Use the search bar below to search topics from the podcasts listed here.

Physical Education Practitioner Journals

Physical Education Research Journals

Additional Research List from Risto Marttinen

Physical Education Webinars

Use the search bar below to search topics from the webinars listed here.

Benefits of Attending Conferences

  • Attain professional development units for your resume.
  • Gain inspiration and motivation from peers who share your vision.
  • Network with other teachers and professionals (potential job opportunities are available).
  • ​Present a session and share your expertise.
  • Reunite with peers from college and new friends you meet every year.
  • Stay up to date with current practices.

Conference Tips

  • Be active in sessions and volunteer when opportunities are presented.
  • Bring a tablet or an alternative to take photos, videos, notes; and use the conference app!
  • Check the conference homepage for justification toolkits.
  • Look at the program schedule ahead of time and take note of sessions you want to attend.
  • Pace yourself and rest. Its a marathon, not a sprint.
  • Save your lanyards (good for non-participants, bathroom passes, etc.) and conference bags for your physical education program.
  • Traditionally, the first day (pre-conference) is not necessary to attend unless there is a session/workshop that you are interested in.
  • Travel in small groups as larger ones tend to be more off task :)​

Doctoral P.E.T.E. Programs in the U.S.

Check the Intellectual Commons for D-PETE Programs website for information on PETE doctoral programs in the USA. Below are links to the programs' pages that are participating in the directory, as well as links to programs that are not.