McKay School of Education > News > Carol Wilkinson
Carol Wilkinson
Carol Wilkinson, the Physical Education Teacher Education (PETE) Program Director, is one of seven new faculty members to join the Department of Teacher Education with the recent dissolution of the College of Health and Human Performance. The McKay School is grateful to have her join us because of the unique experiences and background she offers to her students and staff.
As a native of York, England, Wilkinson received her B.S. degree in physical education with a minor in geography at Durham University in UK and taught students in grades 6-12. Wilkinson noticed the variety of experience the English P.E. system offered its students, observations she would use later in researching levels of student motivation in the United States. She remembers that teachers would combine classes and offer six different sports for the students to choose from. Wilkinson recognized the importance of variety and choice for students in motivating them to participate in activities.
After three years of teaching in England, Wilkinson vacationed in the United States and visited BYU, which opened up many doors for her future in education. She met the head of the Women’s P.E. department, who offered Wilkinson a TA position. After much consideration, Wilkinson decided to get her master’s degree and eventually her PhD in physical education at BYU, and accepted the TA position to help pay for it.
“It kind of fell into my lap,” Wilkinson recalled. “But it was clear to me at the time that God had a lot to do with it.” She had originally planned on returning to England to teach at the university level after receiving her PhD, but doors continued to open for Wilkinson and she again felt the need to stay. A friend who had graduated from the IP&T department offered her a job as a program manager working with school districts in educational software development. She later realized that this opportunity not only taught her about developing technologies, but also increased her ability for developing instruction utilizing sound learning theories. “I’ve taken my experiences from there and translated them to my current job as a professor at BYU,” she explained.
After working with educational software for a few years and then serving a mission in England, Wilkinson decided to go back to teaching because she missed it, but this time teaching was at BYU. She has taught physical education courses here for 14 years and was appointed as PETE Program Director in 2005. She currently teaches courses in high school teaching methods, philosophy and ethics, and badminton, as well as Doctrine and Covenants.
Wilkinson lives in Salt Lake City near her sister and nieces and nephews, whom she visits often. She enjoys hiking, badminton, skiing, and traveling. When asked why she chose to go into physical education, she responded, “I loved being active, and I wanted to help students feel that excitement of staying active and healthy throughout their lives.”
7 October 2009