Introduction To History and Philosophy Of Sport and Physical Education Why study history To study the failures and successes of our past so we don t repeat the failures and we do even better on the successes Stadion Greek work used as a unit of measurement 600 feet It referred to the race that they ran at the Olympic games The word stadium has evolved into where the races are held Chariot races from ancient times have turned into modern horse racing Sport o Modern term first used in England o Origin of the word is French and Latin o In French the word de s porter has its roots in the Latin word desportare which means to o Grew throughout England referring to competition in the form of games individual athletic amuse oneself exploits and hunting Play o Three fundamental characteristics Play is intrinsically motivated why you are doing it is just coming from within not playing for money or to please others You are born with the desire to play Play involves the temporary suspensions of normal typical reality Play involves internal locus of control The individuals feels like they have control of the situation while they are engaging in play Game o Somewhat more organized effort at play where the organized and playful elements of the activity become more evident o Formal definition a play activity which has specific rules the element of opposition or contest recognizable boundaries in time and sometimes in space and a sequence of actions which is essentially repeatable every time the game is played o May not fit into a universally accepted definition because of factors such as religion social Arriving at the definition of sport class and historical period Sport o Continuity refers to the longevity of the game o Divisions of roles o Dynamic interaction with an audience o Supporting establishment History o The study of change over time o Sport history is the study of how a sport has changed over time o Sport play and physical education as we know them are the latest rendition of all the changes that have occurred in the past o Football used to be student run and it used to be more like soccer The new rules that made it more like football that we know today were established in the late 19th century Americans wanted football to be an American sport and not something that came over from England o Oriad says that Americans didn t like the elitist class status of the British so they changed the rules They got rid of the honesty policy and got referees because they felt that Americans would do anything to win Philosophies of the Modern World o Based on monist not dualist view of reality o Pragmatists regard school as a social institution where the child gains real experiences of actual life which develop in him social sense and a sense of duty towards society and the nation o Pragmatism one of the 1st to reject dualism Late 1800 s and early 1900 s argues that humans are embodied entities this means that the mind or spirit is of the body and that mind and body are integrated into one entity Contributions of Pragmatism in Education o Aims lays more stress on social and vocational efficiency o Teacher it gives important place to teacher o Student it stresses on child centered education o Teaching method new teaching methods are the contribution of pragmatism o Curriculum it lays more stress on experience and learning by doing Existentialism sport o Brief view of this philosophy and how it might be used to approach physical education and Begins with the belief that the individual is at the center everything outside the individual is evaluated by the individual Each individual creates him herself through choices and experiences and that a person is the sum of all Each person should have opportunity to make choices and decisions individual will personally determine what value an activity or experience holds The individual is responsible for his her actions and behavior o Existentialism is premised on the individual It is geared toward the fact that each person s reality is based on themselves There is no universal concept of what is real rather only unlimited variations of personal perspectives of life What might be real to one person may not be the case for the next and so on until the end of time o Existentialists claim that the difference between the happy and the said are in which reality each person creates him herself It is up to the individual to build a reality in which he or she feels important and fulfilled and accomplishing this is what brings life meaning or allows a person to feel sorrowful and empty This is the backbone of existentialism There is not a single philosophy that explains the mind body relationship or a single approach to sport and physical education So we can expect even more changes in the future as things within our culture become more diverse there will be more explanations for diversity Greece Influence ancient Greeks o No other civilation embraced athletic competition and intellectual development as did the o Greek culture is considered the foundation for modrn thought in the Western world Being physically fit was more important than anything to them o Known as the fatherland for modern sports o Influence for this foundation is from the Egyptians the people of Crete and possibly the Phoenicians Middle East The extent of the influence is unclear o Various athletic contests and games were carried to mainland Greece by merchant sailors from distant lands Philosophical Positions of the Body o Two opposing ideas of thought Naturalistic Man should have a balanced program harmonious balance amoung spiritual intellectual and physical Both physical education and intellectual education should be incorporated Anti Naturalistic Held that physical education was a servant to the intellectual process held the mind in higher esteem than the body o Both held the mind in high esteem but they differed on the position and importance of the body Ancient Greece The Birthplace of Western Civilization o Extremely advanced society Not just in thought but also in construction of buildings They make good contributions to thoughts in Western Society o First dominant culture in Europe Homer s Iliad and Odyssey o Iliad funeral games of Petroclus At their funeral games they held competitions in chariot races foot races boxing dueling and more o Odyssey Odysseus proving himself by throwing a discus to demonstrate his greatness o What do these stories tell us about Greece Tells us that they valued