Gendering physical education: The role of the French State in the aftermath of the First World War

Abstract

The Great War contributed greatly to challenge the gender order in France, a context that resulted in both a crisis of masculinity and a certain freedom of women. As a reaction, men and women were redefined in the aftermath of the First World War according to traditional gender expectations. This return to tradition was especially reflected in the new official discourse on physical education. Between 1919 and 1927, the so-called “French Method of Physical Education” was written by the Military School of Joinville-Le-Pont and immediately imposed on the State school system for all French pupils. Consisting of three large volumes, the “French Method” offers an excellent tool to explore how the French State redefined the gender relations and presented ideal models of masculinity and femininity. The issue is of particular interest because the “French Method” became compulsory for almost half a century in France and was largely disseminated throughout the world.     

‘Every child (of every size) matters’ in physical education! Physical education's role in childhood obesity

The role of schools and physical education in promoting health, producing a ‘healthy nation’ and in tackling obesity has been increasingly recognised in recent years. In England this is evidenced by various policies, strategies and responses from government that have highlighted schools to be instrumental in addressing health broadly and obesity specifically. In addition, individual schools and teachers at the local level appear to be responding to the obesity issue in varied and different ways. However, we and other researchers feel that the discourse surrounding obesity and some of the reports, messages, policies and measures being taken to tackle it are misleading, misguided and could do more harm than good. At the same time, as physical educators committed to the health and development of young people, we feel unable to ignore the issue and compelled to act. We contend that ‘every child of every size matters’ and can benefit from regular engagement in physical education and physical activity and furthermore that, as a profession, we have a responsibility to provide all young people, of all sizes, with meaningful, relevant and positive physical education and physical activity experiences. Given this, we consider what role physical education can and should realistically, sensibly and safely play in addressing childhood overweight and obesity. Firstly, some of the key ‘facts’, issues and debates concerning obesity are explored and the way in which the issue appears to be being addressed in many schools is critiqued. We then briefly summarise some of the formal guidance and recommendations available to schools on obesity, before concluding with some practical recommendations to support physical education teachers in effectively engaging all children in physical activity both within and beyond physical education.     

改革开放30年学校体育教学发展的回顾与思考

回顾学校体育教学走过的30年改革历程,透视其经验与教训,并对我国30年来体育课程改革若干问题进行分析探讨。体育教学在本质功能、目标定位、教学评价、课程资源开发等认识方面存在偏差,其表现在：教育理念被曲解、教学目标被放大、教学的核心材料被忽视、教学评价失真等。因此,应正确树立体育课程教学目标主次观,＂健康第一＂是首要目标。教学评价应重视生理效应,体育与健康协调发展分别授课要有针对性的改革思路。     

What is PE?

Physical education is a socially constructed activity that forms one component of a wider physical culture that includes sport and health/physical activity . The terms sport and physical education are often used interchangeably in school contexts, where sport and health continue to shape what is understood by the term physical education. This study explores discourses shaping pre-service primary teachers' understandings of the nature and purposes of physical education within an Irish context and the relationship between these understandings. A 10-minute writing task prompted by the question ‘what is physical education?’ was completed by a sample of pre-service teachers (n=544, age range 18–46, 8.8% male) from two colleges of education, prior to the physical education component of their teacher education programme. Content analysis involved an initial text frequency search to create categories which were collapsed into three broad areas of students' understandings of physical education—sport, health and physical education. The research design allowed access to pre-service teachers' understandings of physical education. Participants' understandings reflected their own school experiences and were framed within health and sport ideologies of physical education. Although acknowledged as an important part of school life physical education was perceived as a break from academic subjects where the purpose of learning was to learn sports and activities to stay fit and healthy. While the overwhelmingly positive nature of participants' experiences and the changing discourses around competition and team games are encouraging the dominant discourses of physical education continue to reflect the dominant aspects of wider physical culture in Ireland. The capacity of physical education to move beyond reproducing dominant sport and health ideologies provides a significant challenge to teacher education contexts, to challenge dominant discourses and recreate understandings of physical education for future action.     

体育课教学质量与学习满意度及课外体育锻炼意向关系研究

以东北石油大学大一、大三年级的学生为研究对象,采取问卷调查的形式对学生课外体育锻炼行为、体育课的教学质量、体育课学习满意度和课外体育锻炼意向进行调查,旨在了解学生业余时间的体育锻炼参与行为,并进一步探讨体育课教学质量与学生学习满意度及体育锻炼意向之间的关系。结果发现：学生对体育课的教学质量评价较好,学习满意度较高,且体育课教学质量和学习满意度均会影响学生的课外体育锻炼意向。因此建议教师要通过提高体育课教学质量和学生的学习满意度来进一步影响学生的课外体育锻炼意向,使更多的学生积极参加到课外体育锻炼中。     

福州市幼儿体质现状

为了解福州市 3- 6岁幼儿的体质现状 ,探讨其发展变化的某些规律和完善国民体质监测网络 ,对福州市城区和八县的 5 6 0名幼儿进行调查与测试。结果表明 :福州市幼儿身高、体重、坐高、胸围均随年龄增长而增加 ;脉博除男孩 5岁组外 ,其余各组均随年龄增大而减小 ;身体素质指标反映跑、跳、投项目指标均为男孩好于女孩 ,反映柔韧素质的坐位体前屈为女好于男。     

体育本质的逻辑学思考

本文从逻辑学的视角探讨体育的本质,并在明确本质与本质属性区别的基础上,指出体育的本质是“教育”;体育的本质属性是“身体活动性”和“教育性”;体育的功能则是体育本质属性的现实反映。     

Exploring the relation between physical activity and health—a salutogenic approach to physical education

This article takes a point of departure in the debate whether physical education should consider a limited or an increased commitment towards public health goals and a public health agenda. The article further discusses the relationship between physical activity and health, and the perspective of health in physical education. This is done through a critique of the dominance of a pathogenic perspective of health, as well as through a salutogenic approach regarding health as a process. A salutogenic approach makes, as suggested in the article, other questions—salutogenic questions—possible. In this sense, physical activity and movement can be regarded as something more than mere protection against disease or overweight, and by posing salutogenic questions we can enrich our understanding of the relation between physical activity and health, and in consequence richness to the perspective of health in physical education. With a salutogenic approach, the pupils’ unique and common experiences of health, movement, body ideals or outdoor-life can meet a wider perspective of health. This would facilitate a health perspective in physical education that draws attention to the qualities, abilities and knowledge that pupils can develop, and, in the name of learning health, point the way to the possible contribution of physical education in pupils’ health development in terms of how physical education can enrich their lives, strengthen them as healthy citizens and contribute to a sustainable (health) development.     

高校体育教育专业学生学习行为及择业倾向调查分析

运用文献资料、问卷调查、数理统计及逻辑归纳等研究方法对高校体育教育专业学生的学习行为和择业倾向进行初步的调查研究,旨在为推进体育教育的改革,增强体育教育专业的生命力,拓宽学生的就业途径,提供有益的参考。     

新角度思考现代女大学生体育意识的培养

运用文献综述法,从体育意识的培养在女大学生体育教学中的重要性人手,以新的角度阐述了体育教学中体育意识范围内的体育认识、体育情感、体育意识的培养,并提出对征对现代女大学生的个性特点,提出体育意识培养途径及方法的建议,以帮助现代女大学生建立起终身体育观.     

Changing lives? Critical evaluation of a school-based athlete role model intervention

There would appear to be an enduring belief that successful sportsmen and women can act as powerful motivational role models for young people, especially disaffected, disadvantaged or disengaged youth. In the UK, for example, this belief has been expressed recently in the development of programmes, such as changingLIVES, the Respect Athlete Mentor Programme and Playing For Success. There are further examples around the world of programmes based on similar beliefs including Sporting Partnerships, Athlete Development Australia, Active Girls Breakfast and the Whitelion Sports and Recreation program. This paper reports an evaluation of the changingLIVES ‘athlete mentor’ programme in the UK. This was a school-based programme using successful sports people to deliver a series of motivational activities to young people who were identified as being disengaged or disaffected in some way. Conceptual confusion in the terms ‘mentor’ and ‘role model’ evident in the literature was mirrored in the programme design. The design of an appropriate evaluation strategy was constrained by the scale of the programme aims and the comparatively low evaluation budget. Nonetheless, detailed data were collected on individual pupils. Evaluation data suggested that although the teachers and young people did report an immediate positive reaction to the activities, there was limited evidence of a wider impact on young people's behaviour, school attendance or self-esteem. It is argued that there should be greater conceptual clarity and a stronger evidence base supporting the design and delivery of interventions in schools that seek to use sports people as role models (or mentors) for young people.     

Rhetoric and realities of London 2012 Olympic education and participation ‘legacies’: voices from the core and periphery

A legacy emphasis was one of the fundamental pillars of the London 2012 Olympic Games. The notion of an Olympic legacy was predicated on assumptions that the event's value would not purely derive from the sporting spectacle, but rather from the ‘success’ of enduring effects met out in London and across the country. For physical education students and practitioners, Olympic legacy agendas translated into persistent pressure to increase inspiration, engagement, participation and performance in the subject, sport and physical activity. Responding to this context, and cognizant of significant disciplinary scholarship, this paper reports initial data from the first phase of a longitudinal study involving Key Stage Three (students aged 11–13) cohorts in two comparable United Kingdom schools: the first an inner-city (core) London school adjacent to the Olympic Park in Stratford, East London (n = 150); the second a (peripheral) school in the Midlands (n = 198). The research involved the use of themed questionnaires focusing on self-reported attitudes towards the Olympic Games and experiences of physical education, sport and physical activity. Students from both schools demonstrated a wide variety of attitudes towards physical education and sport; yet, minor variances emerged regarding extreme enthusiasm levels. Both cohorts also expressed considerably mixed feelings towards the impending Olympic Games. Strong and variable responses were also reported regarding inspiration levels, ticketing acquisition and engagement levels. Consequently, this investigation can be read within the broader context of legacy debates and aligns well with physical educationalists' ongoing discomfort regarding legacy imperatives being enforced upon the discipline and its practitioners. Our work reiterates a shared disciplinary scepticism that while an Olympic Games may temporarily affect young peoples' affectations for sport (and maybe physical education and physical activity), it may not provide the best, or most appropriate, mechanism for sustained attitudinal and/or social changes en masse.