Historical Perspectives

From the late 1700s to the mid – 1800s, three nations – Germany, Sweden, and England –
influenced the early development of physical education in the United States. German
immigrants introduced the Turner Societies, which advocated a system of gymnastics
training that utilized heavy apparatus in pursuit of fitness. In contrast, the Swedish system
of exercise promoted health through the performance of a series of prescribed movement
patterns with the light apparatus. The English brought sports and games to America with
a system that stressed moral development through participation in physical activities. The
influence of these three nations laid the foundation for sport and physical education in
America.

The 1800s were an important time for the inclusion of physical education in schools
across America. The Round Hill School, a private school established in 1823,
Northampton, Massachusetts, was the first to include physical education as an integral
part of the curriculum. The first American to design a program of exercise for the
American children was Catherine Beecher. She also advocated the inclusion of daily
physical education in public schools. However, physical education was not offered in
public schools until 1855, when Cincinnati, Ohio, became the first city school system to
offer this type of program to children.

In 1866 California became the first state to pass a law requiring twice-a-day exercise
periods in public schools. Beecher’s influence started the American system of exercise,
and, along with her contemporaries Dio Lewis, Edward Hitchcock, and Dudley Allen
Sargant, she was an early leader in physical education. Between 1855 and 1900, there
were several debates, regarding which system could best provide a national physical
education program for America.

During the 1890s traditional education was challenged by John Dewey and his
colleagues, whose educational reforms led to the expansion of the three “R’s” to include
physical education. It was also during this time that several normal schools (training
school for physical education teachers) were established. All of these schools offered a
strong background in the sciences that included courses in anatomy and physiology, with
many of the early professors holding medical degrees.

In 1893 Thomas Wood stated that “the great thought of physical education is not the
education of the physical nature, but the relation of the physical training to complete
education, and then the effort to make the physical contribute its a full share to the life of
the individual. During the early 20th century, several educational psychologists, including
Dewey, Stanley G. Hall, and Edward Thorndike, supported the important role of
children’s ability to learn. In line with the work of Wood in physical education, and the
theoretical work of prominent educational psychologist, The New Physical Education
was established in 1927 by Wood and Rosalind Cassidy, who advocate education through
the physical.
This position supported the thesis that physical education contributed to the physical
well-being of children, as well as social, emotional, and intellectual development. Charles
Mc Cloy contribution to physical education was the testing of motor skills and his
philosophy of testing paralleled the scientific movement in education.

The evolution of physical education, along with other educational professions, reflected
contemporary changes in society. Throughout the early 20th century, into the 1950s, there
was a steady growth of physical education in the public schools. During the early 1920s
many states passed legislation requiring physical education. Shifts in the curricular were
evident because of WWII, the emphasis in physical education shifted from games sand
sports to physical conditioning. Similar shifts were noted in 1953 when Kraus-Weber
found that America children were far less fit than European counterparts. As a result of
this report, the President’s Council on Physical Fitness was established to help combat
the falling fitness levels of the American youth.

During the 1950s and 1960s, physical education at the elementary level experienced
tremendous growth. Today, many physical education programs emphasize overall fitness,
referred to as wellness, as well as skill development. However, since the 1970s the
number of schools offering daily physical education has drastically decreased.