Questions to Ask in a Physical Education Teacher Interview
A PE job turns on things a general teaching interview never reaches: how many classes share the gym, what is in the equipment room, and whether a team comes with the post. These 58 questions are for the candidate's turn with the principal or hiring panel, grouped as the job and its schedule, space and equipment, teaching and grading, inclusion and safety, and coaching and duties, with a short last group for the panel doing the hiring. The note under each says what a good or a worrying answer sounds like, and where the rules are set by a state or district it says to ask how it works there.
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The questions
Each question, and why to ask it
Job and schedule
How big are PE classes here, and is there a limit on how many students one teacher has in the gym?
Why ask it
PE sections are sometimes allowed to run much larger than classroom ones, and the posting will not say. A number close to an ordinary class is a good sign. If the answer is two or three homerooms at once, the follow-up is how many adults are in the gym with them.
How many classes share the gym in the same period, and how is the space divided?
Why ask it
Half a gym behind a curtain with another teacher's whistle going is a different job from a floor of your own. Ask who decides which class goes outside or into the hallway when three sections land in one period. A panel with a rotation written down has thought about it.
What do you want PE to do for students here that it is not doing yet?
Why ask it
A good one to open your turn with, because it shows what your first year would be judged on. The answer you hope for is particular: more of the period spent moving, a swim unit brought back, fewer students on the sideline. 'We just need someone in there' means the bar is low and the program's standing would be yours to build.
How often does each student have PE: daily, a couple of times a week, or on a rotation with art and music?
Why ask it
Frequency sets what you can teach. Seeing a class once every six days means a unit barely gets going before the students have forgotten it, so find out how the last teacher planned around that. Required PE time is set differently from place to place; the panel should know what applies there and whether the schedule meets it.
How many classes would I teach in a day, and how long is each one?
Why ask it
Eight half-hour classes back to back and four long blocks call for different planning and different legs. Ask to see last year's PE schedule: a real copy shows the gaps, the lunch and whether a planning period exists at all.
Which grade levels would I teach, and would I travel between buildings?
Why ask it
A split between two schools means two gyms, two sets of equipment and two principals, with a drive in the middle of the day. Ask whether travel time is on the schedule and which building counts as home for meetings and evaluation.
How many PE teachers are in the department, and do you teach together or run separate classes?
Why ask it
Being the only PE teacher gives you the whole program and nobody to plan with. In a larger department, ask whether teachers swap groups by unit or keep their own all year. 'We all just combine' can mean real team teaching or one person supervising a crowd.
Is this PE position new, or would I be picking up an existing program?
Why ask it
A long-serving teacher leaves traditions behind, such as a field day or a favorite unit, that families will expect to continue. If the position is new, or has been brought back after a cut, somebody argued for it, and what they promised it would bring is your real job description.
How much time is there between classes to set up and put equipment away?
Why ask it
With no gap, kindergarten walks in while the fifth grade's volleyball nets are still up. A panel that understands the job will mention passing time or scheduling the same grade back to back. If nobody has considered it, expect to plan one setup for the whole day.
When a classroom teacher is out or the schedule changes, are classes ever combined or sent to the gym?
Why ask it
In some buildings the gym is where an uncovered class ends up. The number that matters is how often it happened last year. Once or twice in an emergency is ordinary; a weekly habit tells you how the school sees PE.
Are students ever pulled out of PE for tutoring, testing or make-up work?
Why ask it
This is a quiet measure of where the subject stands. A principal who says PE time is protected like any other class is telling you something worth having. If pull-outs are routine, ask how those students are graded for the classes they miss.
Space and gear
What indoor and outdoor spaces would I teach in, and could I see them before I leave?
Why ask it
Walk it if they let you. Look at the floor, the wall padding, how far the fields are from the door and whether there is shade or a water fountain. A school where the cafeteria doubles as the gym will say so here, and that changes what can be taught either side of lunch.
Where does PE go when the gym is taken for assemblies, testing, picture day or a book fair?
Why ask it
Every PE teacher loses the gym some days; what matters is how many and how much warning there is. Listen for a named back-up space and a calendar shared in advance. 'You'll figure something out', said on the morning itself, is the worrying version.
What is the plan on days of rain, heat or poor air quality when a class is scheduled outside?
Why ask it
Someone has to make the call, and you need to know who it is and how the word reaches you on the field. Heat and air quality thresholds are set locally, so the useful answer names what this district follows. When two outdoor classes come in at once, you are back to how many groups the gym can hold.
What equipment does the program have, and what shape is it in?
Why ask it
Ask to open the storage room, and ask who else has a key to it. Enough balls, ropes or rackets for every student to hold one is the mark of a program planned around activity. Six basketballs for thirty-five students means a lot of standing in line until you fix it.
Is there a yearly budget for PE equipment, and who decides how it is spent?
Why ask it
A figure you control, however small, lets you plan replacements. If money comes only on request, ask what the last request was and whether it was granted. Budgets vary too much to judge the number alone, so judge the process.
How does the school feel about grants, fundraisers or parent-group money for new equipment?
Why ask it
Some districts encourage it and have someone who helps with the paperwork; others restrict fundraising or want approval for every purchase. A principal who names a grant the last teacher won is showing you the door is open. Be wary if outside money sounds like the only money.
Who uses the gym and fields outside class time, such as teams, after-school care or a community league, and who gets priority?
Why ask it
Several groups can have a claim on the same floor. During the school day you want to hear that class comes first. After hours, the thing to learn is who you tell when a field is torn up or the gym is still set for last night's game when first period walks in.
Is there a fitness room, a pool or a climbing wall, and what training would I need to teach in it?
Why ask it
Special facilities come with their own requirements, and what a teacher needs in order to supervise a pool or a climbing wall varies by state and employer. Find out what this school requires and who pays for it. A climbing wall that is never on the PE schedule usually has a story behind it.
What technology is there for PE: a sound system, a projector, heart rate monitors or pedometers?
Why ask it
A working speaker matters more than it sounds in a room that echoes. If the school owns monitors or tablets, ask whether anyone is using them and who looks after them. Gear bought for a teacher who has left often sits in a closet.
Teaching and grading
Is there a written PE curriculum with a scope and sequence, or would I be building the year myself?
Why ask it
Both can suit you, but they make for different summers. If a document exists, ask to see it, which standards it is written to and when it was last revised. If not, ask how much freedom comes with the blank page and whether anyone will want to approve your plan.
Which units are taught now, and are there any the school expects every year?
Why ask it
A swim unit, a dance unit, a mile run or a bike safety week may be tradition, and a new teacher who drops one hears about it. Ask what the students like best and what the panel would be glad to see go.
Do students take a fitness assessment, which one, and what happens to the results?
Why ask it
Some places require a fitness test in certain grades and some leave it to the school, so the first half has a factual answer. Then follow the results: sent home to families, reported upward, or filed. Scores posted on a wall or folded into grades deserve a careful follow-up about why.
How are students graded in PE: on participation, dressing for class, skills, written work or fitness scores?
Why ask it
Find out whether the grading policy is the department's, the school's or yours to write. A grade built mostly on changing clothes is easy to keep and hard to defend to a parent. If you would want to change the approach, ask how much room there is.
Does the PE grade count toward GPA, honor roll or promotion here?
Why ask it
When the grade counts, expect more questions from families and more care needed in your records. When it does not, expect some students to know that. Neither is a reason to say no, but you should know which one you are walking into.
What is the policy when a student will not change clothes or refuses to take part?
Why ask it
A shared policy with steps, such as loaner clothes, a call home and a counselor, means you are not inventing it alone. If students who sit out simply lose points, the same few tend to end up on the bench every week, and the school's plan for those few is the part worth hearing.
Can students be excused from PE for a sport, marching band or an online course, and how many are?
Why ask it
Mostly a secondary school question, and whether waivers exist at all depends on the state and the district. Where they do, they decide who is left in your classes: often the students who play no sport and like PE least. A big number can also mean fewer sections to teach, so ask whether PE enrollment has held steady.
Would I teach health as well, and what curriculum and classroom are there for it?
Why ask it
Health can be a quarter of the job or a single unit, and the posting may mention it only in passing. Ask whether the license you hold covers it there, since licensing differs from state to state. A health class with no room of its own tends to meet on the bleachers.
Who teaches the sensitive health units, such as human growth and development, and how are families told about them?
Why ask it
What has to be taught, and whether families can opt a child out, is decided locally. A good answer includes an approved curriculum, a letter that goes home and an administrator who takes the calls. A shrug means those calls would come to you.
How would my teaching be evaluated, and has the person observing me evaluated PE before?
Why ask it
A rubric written for a classroom can read a loud, moving gym as disorder. Ask what the observer looks for in a PE lesson. An administrator who mentions activity time, clear routines and every student having equipment has watched a few.
Is there professional development for PE teachers, or would I attend sessions planned for classroom staff?
Why ask it
A day spent on reading strategies is not wasted, but it does not make you better at your own subject. Good signs are a district where the PE teachers meet a few times a year, money for a state conference, or a release day to watch another program.
Inclusion and safety
How are students with disabilities scheduled into PE, and is there an adapted PE teacher or specialist?
Why ask it
You are asking who helps you plan for a student whose needs go past an ordinary modification. A named specialist with a visiting schedule is the strong answer. If there is none, ask who you would consult and whether training would be offered.
Do the aides who support students in the classroom come with them to the gym?
Why ask it
In some schools the aide's break falls during specials, which leaves a student with the least support in the least structured room of the day. Ask about particular classes on the schedule. A firm yes for the students who need it means inclusion has been planned, not just promised.
How would I find out which students have IEPs, 504 plans or medical conditions before I first teach them?
Why ask it
A PE teacher can see several hundred students a week, and asthma, allergies, seizures and heart conditions matter more in the gym than at a desk. Listen for a list that arrives before the first day and a nurse who goes through it with you. Learning about an inhaler from the student in October is the answer to worry about.
How are doctor's notes and long-term medical excuses handled, and what do those students do during class?
Why ask it
Three things to get: who receives the note, how you are told, and who decides when a student returns to full activity. A plan for the excused student, such as a modified role or alternative work, is better than a seat on the bleachers for six weeks.
What happens when a student is hurt in class, and is a nurse or athletic trainer in the building all day?
Why ask it
Have them walk through it: who comes, who stays with the other students, who calls home, what gets written down. A nurse shared between schools is common, so ask who the trained responder is on the days the nurse is elsewhere.
Where are the nearest AED and first aid kit to the gym and the fields?
Why ask it
Someone on the panel should know without looking it up. If the only AED is by the front office and the field is three minutes away, say so politely and ask whether a second one has been discussed. The reaction tells you plenty.
Which certifications do you expect a PE teacher to hold, such as CPR and first aid, and does the school pay for renewals?
Why ask it
Requirements are local, so get the list for this employer in writing if an offer comes. Schools that take the gym's risks seriously tend to schedule the training themselves. Being told to sort it out on your own time is a small cost and a small signal.
How do I reach the office from the gym or the far field if I need help quickly?
Why ask it
A radio on your hip is the answer you want. A wall phone inside does nothing when you are outside with thirty students, and your own cell phone is a stopgap. The detail to check is whether the radio reaches the farthest field.
Do students change for PE, and how are the locker rooms supervised?
Why ask it
Locker rooms are where a PE teacher's supervision is hardest and most scrutinized. Ask who covers the room you cannot enter and what the written expectations are. A clear policy protects students and you; 'we trust the kids' protects nobody.
How do lockdown and evacuation drills work when a class is in the gym or outside?
Why ask it
Plans are often written around classrooms with doors that lock. A school that has shown its PE teacher where to take a class from the field has done the thinking. If the question draws a blank, ask who you would sit down with before the first day.
Who inspects the bleachers, goals, mats and playground equipment, and how do I report something unsafe?
Why ask it
You want a name and a route: a work order, a facilities person, a principal who will rope it off. How long the last repair took is a fair thing to ask. A teacher who reports a hazard and has to keep teaching around it for a month is in an uncomfortable spot.
When a student's behavior is making an activity unsafe, where can I send them and who responds?
Why ask it
A classroom teacher can step to the door; you cannot leave a gym full of moving students. Ask whether the school's behavior system and its rewards extend to specials. Panels sometimes realize while answering that it stops at the classroom door.
Coaching and duties
Is coaching expected as part of this job, and which teams need a coach right now?
Why ask it
Ask it plainly, because the expectation is often real and unwritten. If the panel names a sport before you finish the sentence, the vacancy may be a coaching vacancy with classes attached. That suits some candidates perfectly, so decide which kind you are before the interview.
If I coach and later need to step back, does the teaching position stay mine?
Why ask it
Whether the two roles are tied together is a contract matter and differs by employer, so ask how it is written there. A straightforward 'they are separate agreements' is reassuring. Hesitation means you should read both documents before signing either.
How are coaching and activity stipends set, and when are they paid?
Why ask it
Where a stipend schedule is published, a panel that points you to it is being helpful. Ask what the season really involves in hours, weekends and travel, then do the division yourself. It is also worth knowing whether assistants are paid or volunteers.
Which supervision duties usually fall to the PE teacher: recess, lunch, bus line, morning gym?
Why ask it
Because the gym is big and you are good with a crowd, duties drift your way. A fair building rotates them and counts yours the same as everyone's. The comparison to ask for is the PE teacher's duty load beside a classroom teacher's: equal, or stacked on top of a full schedule.
Who runs intramurals, field day and after-school fitness clubs, and is that time paid?
Why ask it
These are often assumed to belong to the PE teacher without ever being written down. Some carry a stipend, some trade for a duty, some are goodwill. Ask which, and ask what the last teacher ran so you know what families are expecting in the spring.
Am I expected to set up or supervise the gym for assemblies, games and evening events?
Why ask it
Chairs, bleachers, floor covers and scoreboards have to be somebody's job. Where custodial staff handle it, your equipment and your first class the next morning are safe. Where it falls to you, ask how many events there are in a year and whether evenings are compensated.
Would I report to the principal, a department head or the athletic director?
Why ask it
An athletic director tends to notice the teams and a principal the classes, and one of them signs off on your equipment order. If you would answer to both, ask who settles it when a game setup and a class want the same floor.
When a coach has to leave early for an away game, who covers the last class of the day?
Why ask it
If you coach, you will need this answer by the second week of the season. If you do not, you may be the cover. A substitute arranged by the office is tidy; folding two PE classes together happens too, and is worth knowing about in advance.
For the panel
It is raining, two classes are sharing half a gym, and you have forty students. What do you teach?
Why ask it
This group is for whoever is hiring. A candidate who has lived it answers fast: stations, small-sided games, a plan that needs little equipment and no lines, worked out with the teacher in the other half. Putting on a movie is the weak answer.
How do you grade a student who works hard with little skill, and one with plenty of skill who coasts?
Why ask it
Every PE teacher meets both in the first week, so vagueness here is telling. Strong candidates separate effort, improvement and skill, and can say what each is worth and why. Follow up by asking how they would explain the grade to the second student's parent.
Half the class plays this sport on a club team and the other half has never tried it. How do you run the unit?
Why ask it
Strong answers change the task and leave the roster alone: small-sided games, a choice of challenge at each station, rules adjusted so the best players cannot run every play. Be cautious of a plan that turns the skilled students into unpaid assistants for three weeks. Then ask what a beginner should be able to do by the last day.
A student who uses a wheelchair joins your volleyball unit. How do you plan it?
Why ask it
Look for a candidate who changes the task for everyone, with a lower net, a lighter ball or a seated version, and who asks the student what works. An answer that makes the student the scorekeeper is the one to worry about.
A student has refused to change or take part for three classes running. What do you do next?
Why ask it
The better answers begin with a private conversation to find the reason, which is often about clothes, bodies or a classmate. Then come small steps back in and a call home. Reaching for the gradebook first tells you how the candidate sees reluctant students.
Describe the first five minutes of your class, from the moment students come through the door.
Why ask it
Routines are most of what keeps a gym safe, and a prepared candidate can recite theirs: where students go, what they start doing, how attention is called. Ask how long it takes to teach that routine in September. Someone who has done it knows the answer is weeks.
A student goes down hard and does not get up. Talk us through the next two minutes.
Why ask it
You are checking for a sequence: stop the class, send for help, stay with the student, keep everyone else safe and occupied. Leave the first aid details to a nurse if one is on the panel. A candidate who also mentions the report and the call home has handled one before.
How to use your turn in a PE teacher interview
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
Before the interview
Find the second job in the posting
Read the posting for the words that change the job: health, coaching, a grade span, more than one building. The school's staff page shows how many PE teachers there are, and the athletics page shows which teams have no coach listed. Bring what you found into the room. 'The posting mentions health. How much of the week is that?' is a better question than 'What would I teach?', and it shows you read past the job title.
Elementary and secondary are different interviews
For an elementary post, lean on the first group: how often each class comes, how many short classes fill a day, how much time there is to change the setup between kindergarten and fifth grade, and how much of recess and field day lands on you. For middle and high school, changing and locker rooms, whether the grade counts, waivers and coaching carry more weight. If the job spans both, ask which end takes most of the week.
Know who can answer what
A principal can answer for the schedule, the budget, evaluation and duties. A PE teacher on the panel knows the storage room, the curriculum and what sharing the gym is really like, and is also the person you would be sharing it with. An athletic director knows the teams, the stipends and who has the fields after school. If you do not know who will be there, bring one or two questions from each group and choose when you see the faces.
Ask to see the gym
When the interview is being arranged, ask whether there will be time to see the gym, the fields and the equipment room. Ten minutes of looking settles a good deal without a word: the state of the floor, how much equipment there is, whether a curtain divides the space, how far the field is from a door. It also sharpens what you ask. 'I noticed the curtain. How often are both halves in use?' is hard to answer vaguely.
In the room
Open wide, then get to the numbers
Start with what the school wants from PE, which lets the panel talk about hopes before limits. Then go to the two things that are hardest to change once you are hired: how many students and classes are in the gym at one time, and what is expected of you after school. If there is only time for three or four questions, spend it there and send the rest by email or keep them for the offer call.
Ask for the schedule itself
A description of the PE schedule is always tidier than the schedule. Last year's copy, even on someone's phone, shows the class lengths, which grades run back to back, the shared periods and where the planning time fell. If they would rather send it afterward, that is fine, and it gives you a reason to write.
Say where you stand on coaching before you ask
The coaching question can sound like reluctance if it comes cold. Lead with what you would be glad to do: 'I would like to coach track, and I am open to helping with one other season. What does the school need?' Then the answer is about fit, and you still learn whether the expectation is one team or three. Leave the stipend figure for the published schedule or human resources. What the panel can tell you is how many afternoons, weekends and bus rides a season takes.
If you taught a sample lesson, ask from it
Some schools ask PE candidates to teach a short lesson to a real class. If you did, you have seen more than anyone told you: how many students came through the door, what equipment was put out for you, how the class answered a whistle or a raised hand. Ask about what you saw. 'Was that a typical class size?' is easy to answer honestly when you were both standing there.
Reading the answers
Listen for whether PE is a subject or a coverage slot
Across the answers, one picture or the other comes through. In the first, PE has a curriculum, protected time, a budget and an evaluator who knows what a good lesson looks like. In the second, it is where students go so classroom teachers can plan. A coverage slot can still be a good job with a lot of freedom, but you would be building the program's standing yourself.
Sort what you could fix from what you could not
Thin equipment, a tired list of units and a grade built on changing clothes are things one teacher can change in a year or two, given a little money and a willing principal. Three sections in one gym, a rotation that brings each class round every sixth day and a team that comes tied to the post are not yours to change. Let the second list decide.
'It depends' can be the honest answer
Sections, travel between buildings and even the grade levels can shift with enrollment until late in the summer. A panel that says so is not dodging. Ask when it will be settled and what the range is, and weigh the job on the less comfortable end of that range.
Check with whoever teaches there now
If an offer comes, ask to talk with a current PE teacher or the one who is leaving. Put two or three of the same questions to them, especially about shared space, equipment money and duties. Where their account and the panel's match, you can rely on it.
If you are doing the hiring
Use scenarios from your own gym
The last group works best when the details are yours. Give the real class size, the real space and the real equipment, then ask what the candidate would teach. A candidate who plans well inside your limits is worth more than one with a fine lesson for a gym you do not have.
Put someone who knows PE on the panel
A current PE teacher, an adapted PE specialist or the athletic director will hear things a general panel misses, such as whether a described lesson keeps most students moving or leaves most of them waiting. If nobody is available, ask the candidate to explain their choices as they go and judge the reasoning.
Answer the candidate's questions plainly
The questions on this page are the ones a good candidate will bring, so have the answers ready: section sizes, how the gym is shared, the equipment budget, the coaching expectation. Naming the hard parts yourself costs less than hiring someone who finds them in September.