Our faculty teach you to use the "discovery learning" model. Rather than simply telling young people what’s right and wrong, you'll learn to encourage them to find their own solutions and to develop their own set of ethics concerning health and wellness.

The discovery learning model is interwoven throughout the courses you will complete. During your four years, you will complete an array of health education core courses, covering topics such as:

• Introduction to Health & Physical Education

• Human Nutrition

• Human Sexuality

• Disease & Lifestyle

• Family Health Problems

• Drug Use and Abuse

These will be augmented by pedagogical and professional education courses, such as:

• Reading Foundations

• Child Abuse Seminar & School VIolence Prevention Seminar

• Harrassment, Bulleying and Discrimination Prevention & Intervention

• Curriculum & Methods in Health Education 

• Teaching Strategies in Health Education

In addition to these professional core courses, you will complete courses in anatomy and physiology, psychology, language, and education theory along with liberal arts courses under the Integrative Core Curriculum (general education) that all students at Ithaca College must complete. 

Our program is designed so that you spend time working with young people during each of your four years. These experiences culminate in your senior year, when you will student teach for an entire semester. Half of that time you will spend in an elementary or middle school, the other half in a high school.

The Department has long-standing collaborative relationships with K-12 schools. These partnerships will provide opportunities for you to complete observation hours as well as student teach. These partnerships span schools that are urban, suburban and rural in nature as well as schools that serve high-needs students. These schools include the Ithaca City Schools as well as schools in Candor, Groton, Dryden, Binghamton, Horseheads, Newfield, Trumansburg, Owego, Newark Valley, Montour Falls, Watkins Glen, and Elmira.

Our teacher education programs are aligned with New York State standards for teacher education. With a bachelors of science in health education from Ithaca College, you will be qualified to apply for teacher certification and to teach in both public and private schools.

More information about applying for initial teacher certification and New York State teacher certification exams is available on the All-College Teacher Education Committee website.

Examples of the pathways of our recent graduates include:

• Health Education Teacher