132
submitted 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) by ReconciliationTime22128@sh.itjust.works to c/onehundredninetysix@lemmy.blahaj.zone

They say things like, “It’s just a name they made up to make substitute teachers feel special…”

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[-] Tar_alcaran@sh.itjust.works 19 points 2 days ago

In the Netherlands, PE teachers have a 4 year college degree. Imagine spending that much time to be the least relevant teacher.

[-] anton@lemmy.blahaj.zone 4 points 2 days ago

Here in Germany, you need to subjects for your teaching degree. A teacher told me that sport and geography are the easiest way to become a teacher and that's why he chose them.
Once you are a teacher you can teach other stuff as well.

[-] DrunkenDuckling@lemmus.org 5 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Sport is only easy if you have some aptitude. They have regular fitness exams and need proficiency in a range of physical disciplines.

And you can only teach stuff unrelated to your degree below a certain grade and never advanced courses.

Source: Studiere Lehramt

[-] rumschlumpel@feddit.org 1 points 1 day ago

"easy" is relative. I probably was never once fit enough to pass the necessary exams even when I was regularly doing sports, but PE teachers aren't exactly pro athletes, either.

[-] Tar_alcaran@sh.itjust.works 2 points 2 days ago

Oh, it doesn't work like that here, though you can assist other teachers I think.

You think they are the least relevant?

[-] Tar_alcaran@sh.itjust.works 6 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

Yes? What important skill have you learned from a ~~PR~~ PE teacher? Because I can't name a single one.

I can name plenty of useful things taught by, say, my maths or English teacher, or chemistry, history. Or hell, even my art teacher (though they come a close second). But PE? Not one actual skill.

[-] rumschlumpel@feddit.org 2 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Exercise is important, lots of people would spend their entire childhoods with exactly zero exercise if they didn't have PE. If done badly it can be offputting, but I had very few negative experiences in PE despite being pretty unathletic.

Art is also pretty important IMO, if done well it teaches motor skills, thinking about things in a visual way, cultural contexts. It's an expression of thought and emotion and frequently (in the form of pottery and architecture) the only thing we have left from prehistoric cultures. And y'know, it's just fun - school life would be so much poorer without the occasional fun subject.

[-] Tar_alcaran@sh.itjust.works 1 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Exercise is important, lots of people would spend their entire childhoods with exactly zero exercise if they didn't have PE.

And thanks to PE, they get to have some 40 minutes (or well under, for many activities) of exercise per week. I personally think that's a terrible return on investment, especially with literacy going down the drain fast.

Honestly, all the money and effort spent on PE should probably just go directly into youth sports on a national level.

Your art class was miles better than mine, I'll have to grant you that. I don't remember much about mine, other than making lots of "art" (drawing, painting, charcoal work, clay... something) which was evaluated and finally graded completely arbitrarily but never worse than a passing grade, so after the first year art class quickly became time wasting class.

Actually, that's a good point. If you can't fail a class, it's not actually important.

[-] rumschlumpel@feddit.org 1 points 1 day ago

We had 90 minutes of PE, you're right that 40 minutes is a waste of time. It's probably not going to do much in terms of training strength or endurance, but familiarizing children with the concept of exercising and sports does a lot. I never would have entered my first youth sports club if it weren't for PE.

[-] Tar_alcaran@sh.itjust.works 1 points 1 day ago

Sure, I had 90 minutes of PE too, which included changing, explaining and waiting, and changing again at the end. Then depending on the activity, lots more waiting. I think spending half the time actually being active is optimistic.

familiarizing children with the concept of exercising and sports does a lot. I never would have entered my first youth sports club if it weren't for PE.

Right, but that means PE is an absolutely terrible way to achieve your goals. It's a massively expensive class. It requires huge special areas, sometimes both in and outdoors, with special equipment. And the return on investment is tiny (or in my case negative). And there is such an extremely obvious alternative too:

If you want to familiarize kids with youth sports, have them spend time doing youth sports. Why waste time and money on PE if your goal is directly available already, in a much more direct, effective and efficient way?

I would argue that PE in school is a thing the government uses to foist off kids being active on a school system that is inherently unsuited to teaching it. Schools are forced to teach it, wasting immense resources on something they ultimately don't do well, with a goal that's better achieved differently. The effects are tiny (or negative), but adults get to pat themselves on the back for a job well delegated at no extra cost, apart from every other area of a child's education.

[-] rumschlumpel@feddit.org 1 points 18 hours ago

My local highschool-equivalent also offered various things that were literally "youth sports", e.g. they had a handball team that was using the school sports facilities. I assume that's pretty common here, because why wouldn't you do it when you already have the facilities and well-qualified personell? And I'm pretty sure that this is a thing in the US, as well, school basketball teams are a huge trope. Though the fundamental issue with youth sports like this is that it only appeals to athletic kids, the unathletic ones are generally not going to care, or even be outright rejected if the team cares a lot about competitions. I think any youth sports thing that actually includes unathletic children is going to end up reinventing school sports.

[-] Taalnazi@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago

Self defence? Physical exercise for health?

Climbing methods, flexibility training, overcoming fears? For maths I didn't learn much that ended up being useful.

[-] Tar_alcaran@sh.itjust.works 4 points 1 day ago

Really? You never had to compare two numbers to tell which is bigger? Never counted anything? Never added or subtracted anything? And you apparently got enough PE to count as proper exercise too!

We have had two very different lives.

[-] ReconciliationTime22128@sh.itjust.works 1 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

What important skill have you learned from a PR teacher?

Can’t honestly say I had one. They didn’t teach PR in my school lol XD

[-] Tar_alcaran@sh.itjust.works 1 points 2 days ago
[-] ReconciliationTime22128@sh.itjust.works 1 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

Ik, it was just funny the way it looked lol. No harm done bro :D I had a similar comment earlier where they said ‘sofa manufacturer’ instead of ‘soda manufacturer’ and joked about that too XD

[-] eestileib@sh.itjust.works 6 points 2 days ago

Yeah I guess bullying and insulting queer kids is an important function at a school. 🙄

this post was submitted on 28 Sep 2026
132 points (96.5% liked)

196

6914 readers
3337 users here now

Community Rules

You must post before you leave

Be nice. Assume others have good intent (within reason).

Block or ignore posts, comments, and users that irritate you in some way rather than engaging. Report if they are actually breaking community rules.

Use content warnings and/or mark as NSFW when appropriate. Most posts with content warnings likely need to be marked NSFW.

Most 196 posts are memes, shitposts, cute images, or even just recent things that happened, etc. There is no real theme, but try to avoid posts that are very inflammatory, offensive, very low quality, or very "off topic".

Bigotry is not allowed, this includes (but is not limited to): Homophobia, Transphobia, Racism, Sexism, Abelism, Classism, or discrimination based on things like Ethnicity, Nationality, Language, or Religion.

Avoid shilling for corporations, posting advertisements, or promoting exploitation of workers.

Proselytization, support, or defense of authoritarianism is not welcome. This includes but is not limited to: imperialism, nationalism, genocide denial, ethnic or racial supremacy, fascism, Nazism, Marxism-Leninism, Maoism, etc.

Avoid AI generated content.

Avoid misinformation.

Avoid incomprehensible posts.

No threats or personal attacks.

No spam.

Moderator Guidelines

Moderator Guidelines

  • Don’t be mean to users. Be gentle or neutral.
  • Most moderator actions which have a modlog message should include your username.
  • When in doubt about whether or not a user is problematic, send them a DM.
  • Don’t waste time debating/arguing with problematic users.
  • Assume the best, but don’t tolerate sealioning/just asking questions/concern trolling.
  • Ask another mod to take over cases you struggle with, if you get tired, or when things get personal.
  • Ask the other mods for advice when things get complicated.
  • Share everything you do in the mod matrix, both so several mods aren't unknowingly handling the same issues, but also so you can receive feedback on what you intend to do.
  • Don't rush mod actions. If a case doesn't need to be handled right away, consider taking a short break before getting to it. This is to say, cool down and make room for feedback.
  • Don’t perform too much moderation in the comments, except if you want a verdict to be public or to ask people to dial a convo down/stop. Single comment warnings are okay.
  • Send users concise DMs about verdicts about them, such as bans etc, except in cases where it is clear we don’t want them at all, such as obvious transphobes. No need to notify someone they haven’t been banned of course.
  • Explain to a user why their behavior is problematic and how it is distressing others rather than engage with whatever they are saying. Ask them to avoid this in the future and send them packing if they do not comply.
  • First warn users, then temp ban them, then finally perma ban them when they break the rules or act inappropriately. Skip steps if necessary.
  • Use neutral statements like “this statement can be considered transphobic” rather than “you are being transphobic”.
  • No large decisions or actions without community input (polls or meta posts f.ex.).
  • Large internal decisions (such as ousting a mod) might require a vote, needing more than 50% of the votes to pass. Also consider asking the community for feedback.
  • Remember you are a voluntary moderator. You don’t get paid. Take a break when you need one. Perhaps ask another moderator to step in if necessary.

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS