You want the bad or the good news first?

[neveragain2]

Hello all,

I’ll start with the great news. I love my field! Adapted Physical Education (APE)! The field that helps those with disabilities become included in regular physical education. After completing a bachelor in physical education, and just now a masters in adapted physical activity, I have been fortunate enough to be accepted to do a doctorate with one of the top persons in the area. I am very fortunate and a phd in the area is what I want to do (the field of APE is just developing in my country and I want to me in a place to improve the situation when I return here (the phd is abroad); I also enjoy research and this is one area that a lot of research is needed in...) And i have got a funded phd which is now very difficult to get in my country.

But the bad news... I have doubts about my experience (or lack of)... I have gone straight through my bachelor and masters and now will go straight into my phd... nearly all my experience has come from internships and although i feel capable in the area (and have demonstrated so), i am aware I have never been actually employed by a school to teach physical education... The field is young and so experience can be hard to come by (especially in schools as inclusive physical education is not yet the norm...).

So I have doubts... I feel I am intelligent enough and motivated enough to do a PhD and i know it will bring me to the career I want to have but there is a little voice in my head reminding me that my hands on experience is lacked... should i listen?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated in this regard...

Thank you so much,

Seán

[Dal PhDer]

Hi Seán,

Welcome to the world of grad school! Where you never quite sure of your abilities, if you're on par with the rest of your class, or if you're doing anything right! I think your concerns are what a lot of students feel like- before, during and after they graduate school. A lot of students have never taken a break to gain work experience, so I might not stress too much about it. I would suggest that you take up opportunities to get more practical experience- such as RA work or even TA work...or if there are some small part-time positions linked to your degree.

From my experience in my PhD, people who have not had work experience are not at a disadvantage. However, once you graduate, you will want to have some sort of skills/experience to put on your resume for jobs- this will make you a better contender for positions.

I am making the assumption that the experience you wish you had is work, perhaps you could clarify what experience you feel you are missing!

In the end, I think this is a common feeling a lot of students don't have...if this is something you really want to do, don't let nerves/fears stop you

[SeriousSillyPutty]

If your concern was, "I don't think I have enough experience to get accepted into a good program", then it might be legit... but since you already got into a good program, they (the powers that be) have faith in your ability to learn. I agree with Dal that it is just normal grad school insecurity. A lot of programs are 9 months, so there might be options for summer experiences. (Don't know where your program is, but in the U.S. there are a lot of physically active summer camp programs that could probably use your expertise.)

As a complete aside, I spent a year at Dublin City University and really loved it, and it makes me happy (and slightly home-away-from-home sick) to see Ireland represented on the forum!

[imonedaful]

There is nothing wrong with not having work experience through the educational process. However, if you want to have experience or just really feel what it is like to work in your field there are many ways to get it. As mentioned above, over the summer you could get a job working at summer camps/ summer schools. They are almost always looking for young able-bodied people. Another way is to maybe subsitute teach somewhere. Depending on where you are living, you can either go through a school district or a specific school and be on their list. I know from my experience subsitute teaching here in Florida in the states you can easily get on if you have a college degree, you can work whenever you want because you sign up for your own jobs, and they always need people to work in special needs classrooms. Even if it isn't a physical education classroom you will probably find it to be a good learning experience to spend time in classrooms with kids of different disabilities to learn their behaviors. Normally when you sub you are in the with a paraprofessional so it won't be all on your own.

Good luck!