MAPESS 400FOUNDATION IN
PHYSICAL EDUCATION,
SPORTS AND SCIENCE
HISTORICAL
FOUNDATION OF
PHYSICAL EDUCATION
rd
3 -tri22
DR. JOANN E. ORBILLO
WHY HISTORY OF PHYSICAL EDUCATION?
 What does history tell us in general?
 What difference has history made to present day
events?
 What influence does history have in decision
making for teachers in various fields,professions
or development?
 What can history do to help “me” to the field of
physical education?
HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE
 History is the study of change or lack of change over periods
of time.
 In physical education, historical perspective provides teachers
and students with an appreciation of our field and how it has
evolved from areas such as survival skills, medicine and war.
SPORT, GAMES AND PLAY
 What are the differences among these three terms
and/or concepts?
 Is there a hierarchy among the three concepts?
PLAY
 Not serious
 Free activity standing outside ordinary life, may be intense depending
on participants
 Absorbing
 Not material interest
 Has its most boundaries and/for limitations
 Can form social groups
 Amusements engaged in freely, for fun and devoid of constraints
GAMES
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Somewhat more organized than play
Has playful elements
Explicit rules
Boundaries which can be flexible
Sequences of Actions that are essentially repeatable
Generally rules are agree upon by participants prior to beginning
Usually implying winners and losers, can range from simple
diversions to competitions with significant outcomes governed by
rules.
RECREATION
 Refreshes or renews one’s strength and spirit after toil
 Can be with or without physical activity
EXERCISE
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To participate, to strengthen, or to condition through physical activity
ATHLETICS
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Organized
Highly organized
Governed by rules
Competitive activities
Skilled participants
PHYSICAL EDUCATION
 Is an integral part of educational program designed to promote an
optimum development of the individual physically, socially,
emtionally, mentally and spiritually through total body movement in
the performance of properly selected activities.
PHYSICAL EDUCATION AND
SPORT
 Their purpose is to optimize quality of life through a long term
commitment to enjoyable physical activity and sport experiences that
will meet varied needs in a changing world. (Lumpin,1994)
PRIMITIVE TIMES AND
SURVIVAL SPORT
 Survival was the basic aim of all education in primitive society.
 Skills of an individual were developed for the good of the group.
 Adult competitions came about a form of recreation and to determine
the most effective hunters and fighters.
 How would you characterize the influence of the Primitive culture on
the development of Physical Education?
ANCIENT CHINA
 Early period of educations included physical activity but it did not last
China look on an isolationist policy.
 Early version of soccer, wrestling and archery were evident in their
history.
 C/Kong Fu was a program of exercise devoted to prevention to disease
through physical activities.
 Dance was popular both for ritual and recreation.
ANCIENT EGYPT
 This was the earliest cultures to provide women with equal
opportunities.
 Education was primarily for occupational purposes/reason such as
as learning a trade.
 Physical education was of little importance since Egypt was
militarily oriented.
 Egyptian enjoyed sport and games and had a great love of dance.
ANCIENT MIDDLE EAST
 Primarily a military focus in the culture.
 What impact did the concept of military training have on the general
education and physical activity levels in the ancient China, Egypt,
and the Middle East.
ANCIENT GREECE: THE GOLDEN
AGE OF THE “PURE” PHYSICAL
EDUCATION AND SPORT
 Early accounts suggest the “Games” were religious activities that
surrounded funeral rites.
 Foot racing, boxing. Wrestling and chariot races were the common
forms of competition.
 Physical Education was general toward the use of weapons and handto-hand combat techniques.
SPARTAN EDUCATION
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Spartan culture and life was primarily military in nature.
Weak children were abandoned in the wilderness to die
Education for males was focused on their readiness for military
service.
Female education revolved around preparation for childbirth and
motherhood.
Dance was encouraged as a means of physical conditioning and to
honor the Gods.
ATHENIAN EDUCATION
 The motto is “ a sound mind and a sound body” stresses the goal of
education.
 Schools were for man and woman , educated at home.
 “Gymnasiums” is the Greek word for “naked” and was the named
given to a training school for males.
 “Palaestra” was a small training school for wrestling and the physical
training , teacher was called a “paidotribe”, the original physical
education teacher or coach.
OLYMPICS
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The term Olympics” means a four year period.
The first recorded Olympics were in the 776 B.C.
“pax olympia” referred to the month-long treaty or truce that
surrounded the games.
The festival of Hera was held every four years to allow for
competition among women in Greece.
ANCIENT OLYMPIC GAMES
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The first presence of a “coaches handbook” on training was in
the third century B.C.
Amateurism versus Professionalism was never an issue in the
ancient form of the games.
The ancient games came to an end in 394 B.C. because they were
considered a form of Pagan worship by the Roman Christian
rulers of the time.
THE ROMAN EMPIRE
 Training for males was directed entirely for the preparation for the
military.
 Women were considered more important in the Roman culture than
Greek culture.
 Roman civilization quickly became a nation of spectators as the
empire grew and they conquered surrounding nations.
ROMAN SPORT
 Roman viewed sport in two ways
Military training
Entertainment
 Roman culture used the concept of “sport” as a means to
entertainment to the point where they used captured slaves as the
competitors or “Gladiators”
 “spectators” is the oplate of the masses”
 The ideal of sport and competitions for the joy of competing was
lost to the concept of winning inn order to survive during the
Roman Empire.
MEDIEVAL AND
RENAISSANCE TIMES
 It is reported that there was a revival of athletic tournament during
this period so that Knights could maintain a level of fitness and
refine skills for battle.
 The Crusaders were the reason that the Catholic Church accepted
physical training again.
PHYSICAL EDUCATION AND
CATHOLISM
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Roman Catholic Church was opposed to physical education for
three reasons”
It considered the Roman character the resulted from sport and
games to be undesirable
The church believed that the emphasis on development of the
body was evil in nature.
CLASS STRUGGLES AND
SPORT ISSUES
 Upper classes were the participants in sport and games activities.
 Lower classes were generally not permitted to compete and did not
have the time to train in order to be competitive.
 How would you compare with todays perceptions of sport and
participations in sports?
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REVOLUTIONARY WAR
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Colonists organized and attempted to fight against the British
forces for independence.
It quickly became apparent that colonial life was not adequately
rigorous to prepare them for life as a soldier in war.
Skills used in earlier life we limited to the job skills of the
individuals.
EARLY COLONIAL PERIOD
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Frontier life has hunting ,tracking and survival skills, as their
basis
Indians had shared many skills with new settlers as the move
west continued.
Male Indians played a game called Beggataway which mean a
“game of ball “ that was currently similar to a day Lacrosse.
Females played a games with a sticks eventually became field
Hockey.
The topic of Hygiene was taught primarily by physicians during
this period.
THE REBIRTH OF THE
OLYMPIC GAMES
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A variety of activities and competitions contributed to the revival
of the modern olympics
The continued efforts of the individual culminated in 1896
when the games organized by Pierre de Coubertin and held in the
Athens, Greece.
Olympics through History
Olympic History
19TH AND 20TH CENTURY
 George Hengel and Karl Marx were prominent political figures who
influenced trend in education.
 They both believed that every individual needed to be strong
enough to be a “contributing member of society “.
 Marxism and Socialism contributed to the incorporation of exercise
and physical activity as staples in the education of all citizens.
 The late 1800s and into 1900s were researchers began to study the
effects of the strength training and the measurements increased
levels of fitness on participants in various programs.
THE BIRTH OF MODERN
ORGANIZED SPORT
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Stages of development of organized sport (1850-1900)
Growth of University and school sports
Popularity of sports both for participants and spectators.
Development of Sports club
National Organizations organized and sponsored national
championships
 Common national and international rules were written.
 Records were kept in sports when it was appropriate.
1900-1930 THE UNEASY
JOINING OF PE AND SPORT
 Non School sports were first on the scene and created an interest for
the physical education and created an interest for the physical
education curriculum and fueled the growth of the intramural sport
activities.
 Influence on sport and athletics in schools and colleges
 1905 development of the KSA
 1922 establishment of the national federation of high school sports.
 The “New Physical Education of the 1920’s that saw sports
incorporated into the PE curriculum.
 Rapid growth of women competitive sports
 Popularity of competitive intramurals as an established portion of
the college and school programming.
1900-1930 THE UNEASY
JOINING OF PE AND SPORT
 Games and sports became a standard portion of the general physical
education curriculum.
 Physical Education gradually shifted its focus from health and
wellness to sports and games and this created a need for the
preparation of teachers who were more “athletically inclined rather
than focused on a medical and formal gymnastics background.
WORLD WAR 1
 War related injuries brought about an increased need for physical
rehabilitation programs.
 This was the birth of physical education therapy and the belief that
through exercise the body could be restored, a Chinese approach
evident many centuries earlier.
EARLY FITNESS TESTING
 Roger’s Strength index and Physical Fitness Index was a general
motor fitness test that measured: balance, flexibility, agility,
strength, power, and endurance items.
 Fitness testing became part of physical education curriculum at
the college level.
 Wartime training tests demonstrated the need for additional
fitness and health emphasis.
 Kraus Weber Test was used to conduct a comparison between the
fitness levels of children in Europe and the United States in the
1950’s.
 Low scores eventually led to the establishment of the President’s
Council on Physical Education during the Kennedy
Administration.
VARIOUS NAMES OF THE
NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONAL
 1885 Association for the Advancement of the Physical Education
 1886-American Association for the Advancement of Physical
Education
 1903-American Physical Education Association
 1937-American Association for Health, and Physical Education
 1938-American Association for Health, Physical Educationa and
Recreation
 1974-American Alliances for Health, Physical Education and
Recreation
 1979- American Alliance for Health, Physical Education,
Recreation,and Dance.
MID-TWENTIETH CENTURY
1930-1970
 The Great Depression saw Physical Education in schools as an
expensive “frill” and many programs were dropped.
 Intramural sports programs grew at the expense of interscholastic
programs due to increased participations at a reduced cost to the
schools.
 Recreation expanded during the Great Depression for two reasons:
 Unemployment increased leisure time
 The government created job programs that focused on the
constructions and development of recreational facilities including
public parks for playing games as well as outdoor leisure pursuits.
 Women sports suffered because woman administrators held back
the development of the women’s program due to the fear they
would suffer from examples set by the men’s program.
FITNESS AND SPORTS IN WAR
AND PEACE 1941-1970
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During the initial draft WWII ,45% of the draftees were rejected
for physical or mental reasons.
The government immediately saw the need to address health and
fitness issues among the general populations.
The government created the Division of Physical Fitness.
Physical Education Program focused on the Physical Fitness and
were oriented toward preparation of students for military needs.
Numerous attempts were made to create comprehensive fitness
test that could be administered to prepare individuals for military
services when needed.
FITNESS AND SPORTS IN WAR
AND PEACE 1941-1970
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A significant Wartime gain was that many states went from
“recommended “ to “required” physical education programs in the
school curriculum.
Post WW II saw the return of the Olympic Games in 1948 and this
brought about an International consciousness and cooperation
regarding sports and physical education.
1953- Kraus Weber Test results suggest that European children
were at a higher level of fitness.
1955- President Eisenhower created the Council on Youth Fitness
1958-AAHPER publish their First Youth Fitness Test Battery.
1961-President Kennedy created the President’s Council on Youth
Fitness
FITNESS AND SPORTS IN WAR
AND PEACE 1941-1970
 Kennedy’s efforts to infuse more fitness-oriented activities and
sports into schools curriculum was the first non-war effort supported
by upper levels of government.
 The launch of Sputnik satellite by Russia signaled the start of the
“Cold War” and created a new reason to investigate the fitness level
of our population.
 1946- Jackie Robinson was the first black professional athlete.
AN ERA OF A GREAT
CHANGES (1970-2000)
 Olympics became a stage for political statements and activities.
 1968- Mexico Olympics saw riots and demonstration.
 1972- Munich games resulted in the murder of Israeli athletes by
Arab extremist's
 .1976- Olympic Athletes raised their hands in tribute to “Black
Power”.
 1980- Games in Moscow boycotted by the United States Team.
 1984-Olympics held in Los Angeles were boycotted by the Soviet
block countries.
 “Big Time” college sports were viewed negatively as “ Sports for
the few” and students began to demand money to put back into
intramural programs and club sports.
AN ERA OF A GREAT
CHANGES (1970-2000)
 The growth of Professional Sports and television sports turned the
nation into a nations of spectators and youth began to imitate “role
models” rather more traditional individuals from neigbhorhoods.
CHANGING PROFESSIONAL
EMPHASIS (1970-2000)
 War in Southeast Asia brought a renewed interest in the role of
Physical Education to school curriculum.
 The general educational movement was toward students having
more class offerings choices in curriculum and individual
 In the 1980’s the concepts of the students choices had lost it’s
push and educators moved back to the more traditional
emphasis on standardized curriculum offerings.
 Professionals became aware of the need to prepare students for
their future activity needs and the trend toward elective
“lifetime sports and activities” were developed in the
curriculum.
CHANGING PROFESSIONAL
EMPHASIS (1970-2000)
 The “Wellness” movements began to pick up momentum and the
focus in physical education moved toward recreation and fitness.
 “New Games” became popular among younger students due to the
emphasis on cooperation, group-oriented activities over curriculum.
 As in years of the Great Depression, school budget were reduced
and so were the allocations for programming and the allocations for
physical education.
 “ In physical education, the most noticeable change in the last 30
years are the trend from fitness to a lifetime wellness focus in
required programs, a disappearing requirements even as youth
fitness levels worsen, and continued fracturing of the profession into
disciplinary groups.