I was surprisingly lucky. My PE teacher was actually a cool guy. He knew I hated sports and didn’t want to do any of them (especially because of the way other kids treated me) and would only do the “show up in your clothes” C, so sometimes we’d go into his office and play chess instead. I’m terrible at chess, but it was still nice of him.
Now the other PE teacher at the school, he was an evangelical asshole who treated a Jewish kid like shit.
i know you look back about this and think of it fondly, but as someone who has worked extensively in pedagogy, your teacher sucked and failed you lol first of all, your teachers job as a PE teacher is to instill values of an active lifestyle. PE literally exists for a reason. ideally you try a lot of things out and maybe get a hobby, but also to learn about a general lifestyle of good health. that’s why sexual health, mental health, etc are often part of PE programs in the US.
now, I’m not saying your PE teacher was a bad person. I’m sure they had a lot of empathy and knew your struggle. however, that’s like saying your math teacher let you play chess instead of teaching you math. sounds great, but at the end of the day, it’s a huge failing on the part of your educator. they ideally should’ve helped with the issues that kept you from enjoying PE and not let you off with an easy ride. you may not know it, but there could be a host of things you don’t know about your own body or collaboration skills because you were playing chess instead of organized sports during PE. that’s a huge, exaggerated stretch, but not unheard of. I just read an article about a couple who couldn’t conceive for 10 years because they didn’t know how to have sex. as weird it is to realize, most in the US learn this from PE. just an example.
I was surprisingly lucky. My PE teacher was actually a cool guy. He knew I hated sports and didn’t want to do any of them (especially because of the way other kids treated me) and would only do the “show up in your clothes” C, so sometimes we’d go into his office and play chess instead. I’m terrible at chess, but it was still nice of him.
Now the other PE teacher at the school, he was an evangelical asshole who treated a Jewish kid like shit.
i know you look back about this and think of it fondly, but as someone who has worked extensively in pedagogy, your teacher sucked and failed you lol first of all, your teachers job as a PE teacher is to instill values of an active lifestyle. PE literally exists for a reason. ideally you try a lot of things out and maybe get a hobby, but also to learn about a general lifestyle of good health. that’s why sexual health, mental health, etc are often part of PE programs in the US.
now, I’m not saying your PE teacher was a bad person. I’m sure they had a lot of empathy and knew your struggle. however, that’s like saying your math teacher let you play chess instead of teaching you math. sounds great, but at the end of the day, it’s a huge failing on the part of your educator. they ideally should’ve helped with the issues that kept you from enjoying PE and not let you off with an easy ride. you may not know it, but there could be a host of things you don’t know about your own body or collaboration skills because you were playing chess instead of organized sports during PE. that’s a huge, exaggerated stretch, but not unheard of. I just read an article about a couple who couldn’t conceive for 10 years because they didn’t know how to have sex. as weird it is to realize, most in the US learn this from PE. just an example.
PE in my school was just ‘play sports’ or ‘run the track.’
like I said, your teachers failed you
Considering all the other high school gym stories I’ve heard in my life, I would say the opposite.