so the dust is starting to settle around the big question of what am i going to do with my life. im choosing to go into health education. im starting at a junior college in the fall so that means my college search isnt over yet. im transferring after a year to a regular four year university. my classes for this semster are intro to anthropology (for my minor in anthro) intro to psychology ( inevitable requirement for almost any health education major) first aid and emergency care. and nutrition and weight control (counts as a science credit at my school). because i was in foster care and other factors, i got the whole enchilada in terms of grants and other free money that i dont have to pay back. for right now i am kinda settled on mnsu or kato for when i transfer. the thing that has me all bent out of shape and the reason why im writing this post is that there are two different majors in health education. one’s community health education and one is school health education. ive looked at other schools i see the same thing. so my question in a nutshell is which track should i choose? school or community? thanks for your time and consideration.
There are specific additional requirements in becoming a school health educator in my state and presumably others. (“A subject matter teaching credential from the state’s Department of Education is required.” - http://www.csuchico.edu/hcsv/programs/he_becoming_health_educator.shtml)
Well, the question is…where do you want to do your health education?
School health educators, as the name says, mostly do education in schools. They concentrate on work with children and adolescents; they may help design and deliver school health education programs. That’s not necessarily the same thing as being a health and physical education teacher, which you do indeed need a license for. School health educators usually aren’t full-time teachers and don’t always even work for the school district; sometimes they work for a nonprofit that delivers school-based health ed programs. (I guess it varies by state whether you would need licensure for that as well; check your state’s requirements).
Community health educators do more broad, community-wide education. They might work in hospitals doing health education with patients and families; they may also work with non-profit organizations and universities developing community-based education programs. That can be pretty broad - a social marketing campaign designing posters and flyers is health education, for example. You could work with any population across the lifespan and different minority groups, too.
The community track is going to be more broad, and frankly, I think there might be more opportunities in that area, too. Plus, community health educators could always go work in schools if they wanted to (with the license if they need one in your state).