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Period: 776 BCE to 776 BCE
The Homeric Era
During the Homeric era, athletes competed in individual events like, chariot racing, boxing, wrestling, a footrace, duels with spears, discus throwing, archery, and javelin throwing. The philosophy during this era was the Greek Ideal, stressing the unity of the man of action and man of wisdom. -
Period: 776 BCE to 371 BCE
Spartans
The educational system agoge had the goal of spartan citizens serving the city-state. During this period girls participated in gymnastics, wrestling, swimming, and horseback riding. Boys began military training at age 7 which included running, jumping, swimming, hunting, wrestling, boxing, playing ball, riding horses, throwing the discus and javelin, and competing in pancratium. This contest combined wrestling and boxing skills. -
Period: 776 BCE to 480 BCE
Early Athenians
The Athenian Ideal in Athens provided an educational system that encouraged boys to develop their physical and mental abilities. Girls would stay home with their mothers and not receive a formal education. Boys attended a palaestra which was a wrestling school for boys to train physically. They practiced wrestling, boxing, jumping, and dancing. -
Period: 500 BCE to 27 BCE
Roman Republic
Education was provided at home, and fathers and mothers taught their sons to become citizen soldiers. They were educated mentally and physically for war. Boys attended military camps with their fathers where they learned military skills archery, fencing, javelin throwing, marching, riding, running, swimming, and wrestling. They developed bodily strength, courage, and obedience to commands as they trained. -
Period: 480 BCE to 338 BCE
Late Athenians
The educational goals shifted away from devotion to the state to the pursuit of individual happiness. Individualism led to a deemphasis on physical aspects of education because members of the city-state and citizens no longer saw the need to train soldiers. Gymnasiums were used as pleasure resorts instead of exercise. -
Period: 500 to 1500
Medieval Europe
At 7 years of age, sons of nobles left their homes to go to the manors of other knights. Squires, beginning at 14 years of age, learned archery, climbing, dancing, fencing, jousting, riding, swimming, and wrestling. -
Period: 1450 to
Renaissance and Reformation
Education came to be highly valued by individuals of all social classes. Emerging philosophies directly influenced attitudes toward physical education, although most often the mind and body were viewed as two separate entities. Education was valued for boys, especially those from the upper class, who attended boarding schools or were taught privately by tutors. Seldom was education provided for girls. -
Period: to
Age of Enlightenment
John Locke wrote about educational disciplinarianism. He said character, especially valued for upper-class boys, required a sound mind in a sound body and developed best through moral and physical discipline. It was stressed that naturalism was the best way to educate a boy. That is, each child possesses a unique readiness to learn in a natural developmental process determining when a child should be introduced to various types of knowledge -
Period: to
Naturalism
In 1774, Basedow founded the Philanthropinum, a school for boys that focused on individual needs and learning readiness. Students spent three hours on sports and gymnastics, plus two hours on manual work. Johann Simon added Greek-inspired activities like running and wrestling, using natural settings for equipment. Later, Johann Du Toit introduced archery, swimming, and woodworking. In 1785, Christian Salzmann applied Basedow’s ideas at the Schnepfenthal Institute. -
Period: to
Nationalism
Friedrich Jahn created the first turnplatz in 1811 to strengthen youth and promote unity. His Turner gymnastics system became popular with patriotic speeches. In the 1840s, Adolph Spiess developed a school gymnastics program for boys and girls, based on Jahn’s ideas. In Denmark, Nachtegall developed a physical education program, starting the first school gym program in 1809. -
Period: to
Sports in Great Britan
In the 1800s, British sports like cricket and rugby became popular at private boys' schools. Thomas Arnold promoted sports to teach values like teamwork and self-discipline. The schools emphasized a variety of sports, not just skill-building, and encouraged competition between boys in different houses to nurture physical and moral health. -
Period: to
German Gymnastics in United States
The first private school to initiate required physical education in the United States was the Round Hill School, founded in 1823 in Northampton, Massachusetts. The founders of Round Hill School scheduled time each day for sports and games even before they employed Charles Beck, a German Turner, to instruct boys in the German system of gymnastics. During the late 1800s and early 1900s, many schools and colleges incorporated exercises on German apparatus into their programs. -
Period: to
Catherine Beecher
Catharine Beecher, the first American to create a physical activity program for children, worked to include daily exercise in schools. As co-founder of the Hartford Female Seminary in 1824 and later the Western Female Institute in 1837, she introduced girls to calisthenics. She set aside 30 minutes each half-day for exercises aimed at promoting health, beauty, and strength. -
Period: to
Diocleasian Lewis
Lewis introduced light gymnastics to educators, especially in Boston. He added equipment like bean bags, dumbbells, and Indian clubs to Beecher’s calisthenics and used Swedish gymnastics' focus on treating spine issues. As a result, Boston adopted his system in schools. In 1861, he founded the first Normal Institute for Physical Education to train teachers in light gymnastics. -
Period: to
Edward Hitchcock
In 1860, Amherst College started the first required college physical education program due to concerns about student health. Edward Hitchcock was hired as director and supervised exercises for male students. With a medical degree, Hitchcock borrowed from Lewis’s light gymnastics, including exercises to music. Hitchcock’s program included class exercises with music. Hitchcock also measured students' height, weight, and lung capacity to track progress. -
Period: to
Women in Sports
Catharine Beecher’s calisthenics and Swedish gymnastics were seen as suitable for women. However, some opposed vigorous sports like basketball, fearing they could harm fertility. In the 20th century, as medical views changed, women were seen as capable of physical achievement. Women embraced basketball but modified the rules, and the American Association for the Advancement of Physical Education standardized them. -
Period: to
Normal Schools for Physical Education
In 1881, Dudley Sargent began teaching women from Harvard Annex and other women and men who were interested in his exercise machines and methodology. At the resultant Sargent School for Physical Education, he provided a curriculum based on a theoretical, scientific foundation along with various practical activities. -
Period: to
Swedish Gymnastics in the United States
Swedish gymnastics was introduced to America in 1883. In 1885, Nils Posse brought it to Boston. Mary Hemenway funded teacher training and established the Boston Normal School of Gymnastics in 1889, with Amy Morris Homans as director and Posse as the instructor. Graduates spread Swedish gymnastics in Boston schools and women's colleges nationwide. -
Period: to
Battle of the systems
Between 1885 and 1900, a leading topic for discussion among physical educators was which system of gymnastics could provide a unified, national program for the United States. This controversy became known as the Battle of the Systems. Although leaders in physical education at this conference were exposed to various systems, no one system was found to meet completely the needs of Americans because each seemed to have weaknesses. -
Period: to
YMCA
The YMCA Training School, founded in 1885 in Springfield, Massachusetts, aimed to develop well-rounded individuals and train physical directors for YMCAs worldwide. The YMCA became a leader in promoting physical development and sports both nationally and internationally. -
Period: to
National Association
In 1885, gymnastics teachers, ministers, journalists, and others met to discuss physical training programs and the need for a regular professional forum. Of the 60 attendees, 49 supported the idea, leading to the creation of the Association for the Advancement of Physical Education, now known as SHAPE America. -
Period: to
New Physical Education
This new physical education beginning in the 1920s focused on developing the whole individual through participation in play, sports, games, and natural, outdoor activities. The curriculum and philosophy of the new physical education was heavily influenced by and consistent with educational and psychological theory developing at that time. -
Period: to
New Developments in Physical Education for Women
These developments included the growth of women’s physical education; the education of the physical movement; the emergence of exercise science; and the influence of the scientific movement, educational developmentalism, and social education in the schools. Not until the 1970s did most college physical education programs end their practice of separation by gender. -
Period: to
Federal Legislation
Title IX of the 1972 Education Amendments required equal opportunity in education, stating that no person can be excluded or discriminated against based on sex in any program receiving federal funds. In physical education, this meant that both genders must have equal access to curriculum, equipment, facilities, teacher quality, and other aspects of the program. Elementary school children accept classes composed of both girls and boys as the norm. -
Period: to
Adapted Physical Education
Section 504 of the 1973 Rehabilitation Act ensured that people with disabilities could not be excluded or discriminated against in any program receiving federal funds. This led to the development of adapted physical education, which provides individualized programs for students with special needs. The 1974 Education Amendment Act required that all children be placed in the least restrictive environment to support their learning and development.