Teaching Special Needs Students: A Follow-up

In a past issue of the Vital Force [March ’00], I described the difficulty I had in convincing the public school where I teach what the benefits could be of teaching T’ai Chi Chih to the staff. I later requested permission to teach T’ai Chi Chih to my special needs students as part of the health curriculum.

Last school year I taught seven of my 15 students T’ai Chi Chih twice a week. By winter break we had learned all of the moves. We continued to practice the whole year.

One day, another teacher came in the room while we were practicing. She needed to talk to me. I asked one of the students if he would lead the class while I met with her. After I finished my brief meeting I continued to observe my class. It was a moment that makes the hair on your arms stand up and clap.

In front of me was my class of “disabled” students doing T’ai Chi Chih and being led by one of their peers. Instead of returning to the class as the teacher, I joined the class and let the student continue to lead until we were finished. Unfortunately, the only camera running at the time was the one in my mind. This is one tape that will be difficult to erase.