Teaching TCC In Colleges & Universities

Imagine being 18 years old again. Your freshman year in college as a nursing or engineer major, feeling uncertain about your future, unprepared for everyone’s expectations, overwhelmed by the newness of everything, and completely stressed out. You just had a fight with your roommate; you miss your family and friends back home. Nothing is familiar. You wake feeling anxious as you try to remember everything on your to-do list and your mind races on.

And then you enter your PE (Physical Education) class, barely even remembering walking across campus to the building. The instructor says, as she dims the lights, “Check your brain at the door. Check your to-do list at the door. Drop the attention to the soles of the feet and take a deep breath. Be here now.” Your mind comes to a screeching … WT#?

∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞

It never occurred to me to teach T’ai Chi Chih to college students. And yet it has been such a compete joy to teach this population since 2008. The offer to teach at Widener University fell into my lap, as the yoga teacher from the YMCA (where I teach) also taught at Widener; she recommended TCC and me to the PE Director. The PE Director is very progressive and was excited to offer something different and hired me sight unseen.

When I was invited to speak at this year’s conference on the subject, I contacted my PE Director and asked him for salient points. What do teachers need to know about teaching TCC at their local college? I was surprised to find that the national PE standard requirements have TCC written all over them, metaphorically speaking. I Googled several PE programs and college departments throughout the country; they all used familiar verbiage heard in TCC circles.

Any PE program worth its salt promotes four key components: social, emotional, psychological, and physical. As we all know, TCC easily fits into these categories.

Two important PE component questions are: 1.) Can you do this (activity) for the rest of your life? 2.) Can this be done in an outdoor setting? Of course, TCC is an easy answer to both questions.

PE catchphrases include “kinesthetic awareness” and “sound mind/sound body.” Do I even need to expound on this relative to TCC?

Because I had gotten my teaching job without meeting the PE Director, I asked him what I could say to get his attention if I was a total stranger expressing an interest in teaching TCC at the college. This is the list he offered:

• There are no equipment costs;

• Use your certification with your name (“Jane Doe, Accredited TCC Teacher”);

• Explain how to utilize the “softer side” (well-being, stress reduction);

• Mention that TCC is innovative, offering variety to PE classes to match diverse interests;

• It promotes life-long learning and can be done throughout life;

• It promotes social, emotional, psychological, and physical well-being;

• It enhances kinesthetic awareness;

• It cultivates sound mind, sound body;

• It reduces stress;

• It improves focus and concentration;

• It provides appropriate coping techniques to life and school stressors.

For graduate programs, TCC makes an excellent research study topic.

I also spoke to other TCC teachers offering college classes and was surprised by the variety. Some classes are 50-minutes; others are over two hours. Some classes are once weekly for 14 to 16 weeks; others consist of two 3-hours classes for three to four weeks during winter sessions. Summer sessions are six weeks with two-hour classes twice weekly. (Larger universities have summer programs.) Some offer PE credits ranging from 0.5 – 1.0 – 1.5; other classes are for personal enrichment with no credits offered.

What really dawned on me after all of this research? TCC is exactly what PE programs need; they just don’t know it yet. We have a valuable service to offer colleges and their student population and it behooves us to begin educating the educators.

For sample syllabi from three TCC teachers, more details, and my PE notes, please see taichichih.org/conference-2016. Thanks to Janet Oussaty and Sharon Sirkis for willingly sharing their syllabi. Thanks to Sharon Sirkis and Donna McElhose for answering my many questions and sharing their experiences during the interviews.