Physical Education
The
history of physical education reflects people's attitudes about physical
activity. From prehistoric times, because survival was related to physical
stamina and to people's ability to find food, no separate physical fitness
programs were needed. Gradually, ancient societies in China, Egypt, Greece, and
Rome adopted physical education as part of military training. As the more
developed societies came to value the scholarly life, physical education lost
favor. Many developed countries have had to strike a balance between physical
and intellectual interests.
The
history of physical education frequently shows a pattern of military, social,
and political influence.
In one
high point of ancient history, Athenian Greeks came to the forefront in the era
700 to 600 B.C. with their quest for physical and intellectual perfection. In
numerous festivals, Athenians celebrated the beauty of the human form in dance,
art, religious rites, and athletics. Athenians honored the gods of Olympus,
especially Zeus, with the first Olympic Games. The Olympic Games offered a
civilizing influence, with social class disregarded and all citizens judged on
athletic competition. If a war was being fought, it was halted during the
Olympic Games. Many historians regard Athenian culture as the height of early
physical education, but like their Chinese predecessors, the Athenians felt the
competing influence of intellectualism.
The
Middle Ages saw the fall of the Roman Empire and the rise of Christianity, and
the Christian influence brought about a denial of physical activity for
anything other than manual labor. Christians saw sports and physical play as
immoral, and in 394 they halted the Olympic Games. This trend was not reversed
until the medieval societies grew and sought power through military expansion.
During
the Renaissance, the pendulum swung once again as artists showed the human body
as an object of admiration. The humanist faction, centered in Italy, valued
education in sports such as fencing, archery, swimming, running, and ball
games. The moralist faction, influenced by the Protestant Reformation, saw
physical activity only as a way for carrying out work. During this period, much
of Europe was still Catholic, and Catholics favored recreational physical activity
with the view that care should be taken of the body as the vessel that held the
soul. The other major Renaissance faction was realism, which favored physical
education as part of a sound mind in a sound body.
In
19th-century Europe, Sweden and Germany developed systems of gymnastics that
were adopted internationally with Germany building the first indoor gymnasium.
In Finland, which also built a gymnasium, exercise was for the first time seen
as a way to achieve physical rehabilitation. Scholars began to study anatomy
and physiology in relation to exercise. Denmark was among the first countries
to require physical education in schools.
Physical
education fulfilled a political role in early-20th-century Russia after the
rise of communism. Physical fitness helped insure military strength,
productivity, and nationalism. Sports were viewed as a way of achieving
international fame.
The
United States followed other countries in its approach to physical education.
During the Colonial period, the sheer physical demands of survival made
physical education unnecessary. War required physical training as a part of
military preparation. Between the Revolution War and the Civil War, Americans
followed some recreational activities such as riding, hunting, dancing, swimming,
and early forms of golf and tennis. By the 1820s, some American schools offered
gymnasia and physical education. Instruction included the development and care
of the body, and training in hygiene. Students learned calisthenic exercises,
gymnastics, and the performance and management of athletic games. Women's
colleges offered exercise and dance classes. The Young Men's Christian
Association (YMCA) opened its first American chapter in 1851. Many sports
gained in popularity around this time, including baseball.
After
the American Civil War, large school systems began to adopt physical education
programs and many states passed laws requiring that physical education programs
be taught. For the first time, specialized training was offered for physical
education instructors. In another first, colleges offered intercollegiate
sports such as rowing, football, and track and field. In keeping with this wave
of interest in physical education, the Olympic Games were restored in 1896,
after a 1,400-year interlude.
Surprisingly,
many Americans were not physically fit for military service during World War I,
and there were many postwar efforts to add physical education at all levels of
schooling. During World War II, physical fitness was again required of
soldiers--but it was also required of many others, particularly women, since
the war effort required manual labor. Soldiers once again came up short in
physical fitness requirements, so after the war, schools instituted more
rigorous physical education requirements, and there was greater interest in the
teaching of physical education.
By
1950, there were over 400 United States colleges and universities offering
majors in physical education and there was increasing recognition of the
scientific foundation of physical education. The fitness of the military in the
Korean War again fell short of expectations, and the federal government set up
the President's Council on Physical Fitness, which helped to raise fitness
standards in schools across the country. A series of 1970s and 1980s recessions
brought about cutbacks in many school programs, including physical education.
By the 1970s, interest in the President's Council had waned and physical
education courses began to emphasize lifetime sports such as golf, badminton, tennis,
and bowling. In another swing of the pendulum, the American public
spontaneously developed an intense interest in fitness in the late 1970s.
One of
the most significant shifts of the 1970s was the Title IX amendment to the
Federal Education Act, which stipulated that no federally funded education
programs could discriminate on the basis of gender. Enforcement of Title IX
opened up many new opportunities for women in competitive athletics, both at
the high school and collegiate levels.
In a
continuation of 1980s trends, during the 1990s many school districts have
limited the amount of time students spend in physical education or have even
dropped the program in response to economic problems or concerns about poor
curriculum. Some reformers in the field are turning to sports education as a
way of reengaging the students.
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