Charting the Course with your Student Majors Beyond the Curriculum

Abstract

Purpose: Extra-curricular and co-curricular activities in your health and physical educator preparation program can extend the knowledge, values, and experiences of your student majors. The purpose of this article is to share an approach to working with students majors outside the curriculum. This four-pronged approach helps student majors engage with the HPE field in mutually beneficial ways beyond the classroom. Centering the student majors clubs around the four prongs of 1. Fellowship, 2. Advocacy, 3. Professional Development, and 4. Service can help students consider the varied ways they can work with one another, work within their campus community and school partners, and to engage with the profession in ways that are not often demonstrated explicitly in their program curricula. Conclusion: Opportunities for student fellowship is beneficial in many ways including lasting friendships, stress management, comradery, peer mentoring, leadership opportunities, networking, identity with the institution and retention in the program. Advocacy activities allow students to extend their voice and build confidence. Professional development for preservice teachers can be an important part of professional preparation and can be facilitated through student majors clubs. Through service, students have valuable experiences and learn skills that are directly reflected to their future work.