PE Teaching Interview Questions and 6 Full Sample Answers
By Mustafa Tarabya, founder of CVBooster · Published · Updated
8 min read
PE teaching interview questions test one thing above the rest: whether you can keep thirty students safe, moving and learning in a space with no desks and a lot of echo. The constraint is that the panel usually includes a principal who has never taught a gym class, so every answer has to show learning, not just activity. SHAPE America says its National Physical Education Standards "define what a student should know and be able to do as result of a highly effective physical education program", and that phrase is the standard your answers are measured against. Below are six physical education teacher interview questions with full sample answers, each tagged for a new or experienced teacher, plus the questions to ask back and a short preparation plan. Written by Mustafa Tarabya, who hired for his own company, read every application himself and now writes CVBooster's guides.
You know how to run a game of capture the flag. The panel knows that too. What they want to hear is what the students learned while they were running, and why nobody ended up in the nurse's office.
1. Why do you want to teach physical education?
This opener sorts the candidates who love sport from the ones who love teaching. Sport is fine, but the job is the student who hates sport. Talk about lifelong activity, the students who struggle and what a good lesson looks like.
New teacher: why physical education (114 words)
I played basketball through college, but that is not why I want this job. During student teaching I had a seventh grader who sat out every lesson for three weeks because she was the slowest runner in the class. I changed our fitness unit so students chose their own goal and tracked it, and by the end of the unit she was logging her walking minutes and showing them to me. That is the part of physical education I want: helping students who think they are not sporty find one activity they will still do at forty. I want students to leave my class knowing how to stay active, not just how to win.
2. How do you manage a large class in the gym?
Classroom management is the question behind every other question. The Bureau of Labor Statistics lists "Develop and enforce classroom rules and administrative policies" among the duties of a high school teacher, and a gym makes that harder, not easier. Give routines, signals and how you keep instruction short.
New teacher: routines in a busy gym (118 words)
I set the routines in the first week and practise them like a skill. Students enter, go to their squad spot and start the warm up posted on the wall, so I can take attendance while they move. I use one stop signal, a whistle and a raised hand, and we rehearse it until the whole gym freezes within a few seconds. I keep instruction under two minutes and demonstrate instead of explaining. Equipment goes out by squad leaders, not by a crowd at the closet. If one student keeps breaking the rules, I talk to him privately at the side rather than across the gym, because a public argument turns a class of thirty into an audience.
3. How do you include a student who cannot or will not take part?
Every panel asks some version of this, often with an IEP or a medical note in mind. The special education teacher interview questions guide goes deeper on IEP meetings. For PE, show that you adapt the task, not the student, and that refusing to take part is a signal you investigate.
Experienced: adapting for a wheelchair user and a refuser (118 words)
Last year I had a sixth grader who used a wheelchair in a volleyball unit. I met the special education case manager and the student before the unit, and we agreed on a lighter ball, a lower net on one court and a rule that the ball could bounce once on his side. He played in a team, not beside it. The refuser was a different problem. A ninth grader stopped changing for class, and when I asked privately it turned out she was anxious about the locker room. We arranged for her to change in the nurse's office and she was back in the lesson the next week. In both cases the fix came from asking first.
4. How do you assess students in physical education?
This is where many PE candidates lose a principal. "Participation and effort" is not an assessment plan. Tie grades to standards, use skill checklists and include knowledge and behavior, not only fitness scores.
Experienced: standards based assessment (114 words)
I grade against our state standards, which our district built from the SHAPE America national standards. Each unit has two or three learning targets, for example performing an overhand throw with the correct form and explaining two tactics for creating space in an invasion game. I assess skills with a short checklist during play, so assessment does not stop the lesson, and I use exit questions on a tablet for the knowledge targets. Fitness test results are used for students to set their own goals, not for the grade. Students see the rubric at the start of the unit, and parents see the same rubric in the portal, so a grade never surprises anyone.
5. Tell me about a lesson that did not go to plan
Answer with the STAR method: situation, task, action, result. The panel wants to hear that you noticed, adjusted during the lesson and changed the plan afterwards. Our guide to STAR interview questions shows the format in more depth.
Experienced: a lesson that fell apart (113 words)
Situation. I planned a lacrosse lesson for a class of thirty two with twelve sticks, thinking the students could rotate. Task. Within ten minutes half the class was standing in lines and the other half was fighting over the sticks. Action. I stopped the class, split it into stations: stick skills at one end, footwork and a throwing game with tennis balls at the other, and rotated every six minutes. After the lesson I asked the department for a shared equipment calendar. Result. Waiting time dropped to almost nothing in the next lesson, and the equipment calendar is still used by all four PE teachers. I now plan equipment before activities, not after.
6. How do you keep students safe, and what do you do when someone is hurt?
Safety questions are where a principal pictures a lawsuit. Show prevention first, then a calm response and documentation. Say what training you hold, but only what you actually hold.
New teacher: safety and a first injury (111 words)
Safety starts before the lesson. I walk the space, check the floor and the equipment, and set boundaries well away from walls and the stage. I teach the rules of each game before we play it and I match students by size for any contact activity. When a student is hurt, I stop the activity, send a reliable student for the nurse or use the radio, and stay with the injured student while another adult supervises the class. I do not move a student with a suspected head or neck injury. Afterwards I complete the incident report the same day and call the parent if the school procedure asks me to.
Other PE teaching interview questions to prepare
Panels mix the questions above with a handful of others. Prepare a short, honest answer for each:
- How would you promote physical activity outside your lessons? The CDC says "Children and adolescents should have 60 minutes or more of physical activity each day", and its school physical activity page explains why schools are expected to help with that.
- Would you coach a team, and how would you balance coaching with teaching? If you coach, the coach resume guide shows how to put both roles on paper.
- How do you use technology in PE, such as heart rate monitors or video feedback?
- How do you teach health topics if the post includes health education?
- How would you handle a parent who complains about a grade in PE?
For the wider bank of general teaching questions, our teacher interview questions page covers lesson planning, behavior and parent communication across all subjects.
Questions to ask the panel
The last ten minutes are yours, and they tell the panel how seriously you take the subject:
- What does the PE curriculum look like now, and which units would I be teaching first?
- How many students are in a typical class, and how many teaching spaces share the gym at once?
- What is the equipment budget, and who orders it?
- Are coaching duties expected with this post?
- How do PE grades count toward the student's overall record?
How to prepare for a physical education interview
Read the district curriculum and the state standards before the interview, and know which ones your sample lesson would hit. Bring a one page unit plan with learning targets and an assessment. If the school asks for a demonstration lesson, plan for a class you have not met: clear routines, short instruction and a backup activity if the space is smaller than promised. Remember that physical education is a teaching post like any other; the BLS describes high school teachers who "specialize in elective courses, such as art, music, or physical education", and panels judge you on the same planning and assessment as the math teacher next door. Your physical education teacher resume should show the same things: grade levels, units taught, class sizes and coaching.
Frequently asked questions
What questions are asked in a PE teacher interview?
Expect why you want to teach PE, how you manage a large class in a gym, how you include students with disabilities or students who refuse, how you assess learning, a lesson that went wrong, and how you handle safety and injuries. Many schools also ask about coaching and promoting activity outside lessons.
How do I answer why I want to be a PE teacher?
Talk about students, not sport. Describe a moment when you helped a student who disliked exercise find an activity they enjoyed, and connect it to lifelong activity. Keep your own sporting career to one sentence at most, because the panel is hiring a teacher, not a player.
How do you assess students in physical education?
Assess against standards with learning targets for each unit, skill checklists during play, short knowledge checks and clear behavior criteria. Use fitness test scores for goal setting rather than grading. Share the rubric with students and parents at the start of each unit so grades are predictable.
What should I bring to a PE teacher interview?
Bring copies of your resume, a one page unit plan with learning targets and assessment, your certification details, and evidence such as a short video of a lesson if your district allows it. A coaching record helps if the post includes coaching. Keep everything in a simple folder you can hand over.
How do I prepare for a PE demo lesson?
Plan a short lesson with one clear learning target, a warm up, a skill practice, a game that uses the skill and a quick check for understanding. Teach your stop signal first. Bring a backup activity for a smaller space and enough equipment so nobody stands in line.
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