What’s in a Name, Part III

I’ve been a health educator since 1975.  I declared my major while a freshman at Mankato State (now Minnesota State University, Mankato) and unbeknownst to me at the time, I was the first breed of health educators who were truly health educators…not a combination of Health and Physical Education majors.  At that time, only about 2 other states made that bold move to separate health education from physical education (I think New York and Oregon were the other two at the time).    During my college career I was required to take 3 physical education activity classes, but they were waived because I was an athlete on the cross-country and track teams.  My freshman year, winter quarter, I did take a ‘Beginning Swimming class’ in which, of the 30 students, I was the only one who did not know how to swim.  Little did I know people who were experienced swimmers took it because of the easy grade.  The instructor (the Mankato State swim coach) couldn’t believe I didn’t know how to swim.  My roommate, a year older than I, was the last who majored in ‘H & PE’.  Whereas I took over 75 quarters hours in health education, he only took 12 hours…yet he received the same endorsement that I did to teach health.

Basically, I haven’t had any professional training in physical education.  Over the course of my career, I’ve typically been one of the few who had no such training, so I always was befuddled with the relationship of health education and physical education.  Since the late 1970s, when health education went from a school-based focus to a more community/public-heath focus, this relationship is even more confusing.  But I understand that tradition is often difficult to break.  The good news is that for most of my professional career, there was a clear understanding at the university level that health educators should be academically trained to teach health education.  Unfortunately, that doesn’t translate into the public school system where in most instances the health education teacher is not academically trained in health education.

But one would think that universities are at the cutting edge and should be the first to move the profession forward.  Since the 1960s most major health education programs have moved into their own department and have moved away from the physical education relationship.

Unfortunately, the largest health education organization still has its ties with physical education.  Why the American Association of Health Education (AAHE) still is connected with the American Alliance of Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance is beyond my understanding.  Now, I understand that many of the AAHPERD members teach both health and physical education at the public school system, but that is, in my opinion, no excuse to be associated with physical education at the largest national organization.  Basically AAHE does nothing with the other associations…but yet, the fact that they are still in the same umbrella organization does nothing but compromise what health education is all about.  It still gives people the ammunition that health and physical education are related.  Again, with over 80% of health education majors focusing in community/public health education, this gives a very bad view of who we are and what we do.

Now, I’ve been an AAHE member since the late 1970s (okay, I left it lapse for six months in 1984).  I’m very supportive of AAHE…I’ve served on its committees, board, and have allowed the HEDIR and AAHE to have a unique relationship.  I support the staff and the past and present Board members.  But why do I have to constantly be associated with physical education?  Now, I have nothing against Physical Education…but I am not academically trained and wish to not be affiliated with them (the same as I have with Mathematics, Sociology, Biology, or any other discipline).  To give you an example…during its annual convention the Alliance refuses to separate rows so that health education related products are in their own area.  So we are forced to walk by 15 pickle ball demonstrations to get to the NCHEC booth.

Now, can our professions work together?  Sure…but that doesn’t justify being ‘married’.  As health educators we work with a variety of other professions—psychology, anthropology, speech communication—that doesn’t mean we should be in the same organization together.

So for the professions’ 2009 resolution, let’s dissolve our meaningless relationship with Physical Education and move out of the American Alliance of Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance.  Let’s join up with a group like the Society for Public Health Education (SOPHE) and work together with like-minded professionals.  AAHE could still ‘service’ members of the Alliance—those that do teach health, but we could do it away from the shadows of the physical education profession.

I’m ready to make the move.  We could do it one of two ways:  everybody in AAHE could drop their membership and join SOPHE, OR, put pressure on the AAHE Board and people who are in the position of power, to get some type of collaborative agreement with SOPHE and create a new health education group.    I prefer the latter.