Kinesiology and Nutritional Science Cal. State LA Cal. State LA Kinesiology and Nutritional Science College of HHS

UNIT # 1: Historical & Philosophical Bases of Physical Education and Sport

KIN-375 Unit outlines are in part a reproduction and in part a modification and expansion of original lecture notes by Dr. Steve Estes, California State University, Fullerton.
UNIT OBJECTIVES
By the completion of this unit the student will:
  • achieve an understanding of the content and scope of the historical and philosophical materials to be covered in KIN 375
  • develop an understanding of how historical events in general, and the history of physical education and sport in particular, are studied
  • examine the process of the evaluation of the credibility of historical data
  • Demonstrate the practical contributions and applications of knowledge of history and philosophy to the practitioner

The Introduction to KIN 375 PowerPoint lecture notes are available in Adobe PDF format. To open a .pdf file in your browser you need to have the Adobe Acrobat Reader application installed on your PC.


UNIT 1 -- INTRODUCTION
"The only lesson history has taught us is that man has not yet learned anything from history." Anonymous
and, "Those who do not know history are condemned to repeat its mistakes."
"He who would know the hearts and minds of America should know baseball." Jacques Barzun, Sociologist
"History" defined.
"A contemporary description and/or interpretation of events that took place in the past."
"History is the study of change over time, and [physical education and] sport history is the study of how [physical education and] sport has changed over time" (Mechikoff & Estes, 1993, p. 2).
I. The careful student of history is better informed than the layperson, a fact that enables her/him to more effectively promote or demote current policies and practices in physical education and sport settings and thus leave their mark on the present while shaping the future has a broader perspective of norms, traditions, morals, and values of her/his neighbors and thus may be less likely to engage in value judgments based on ignorance and personal bias adds new dimensions to their understanding of the present by traveling through time and being able to observe a current event as it spreads over a multi-layer of past events knows better who he/she is by knowing how customs, attitudes, and habits have changed over time adds meaning and significance to past events in present day terms
Why should history (in general) and the history of physical education, play, and sport (in particular) be studied?
. . . If history has any use, it is in deepening our awareness of the process by which society sets questions that men and women, willy-nilly, have to answer. Today--by contrast with most of the past--the questions set are not wholly out of our control. The more we comprehend the question-setting process, the greater the hope of our being able to change the questions so as to get the right answers. For we ourselves participate in setting the questions, even if only by passivity, by allowing the present questions to be set. . . The historian is not primarily interested in the random thoughts of the past; he has to be selective. His concern should be to identify the major questions that men were in fact answering when, for instance, [the following historical events took place: the Boston "tea party;" the decision to succeed from the Union by the South; Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor; the dropping of an atomic bomb on Hiroshima; desegregation of the South; desegregation of the University of Alabama...of professional baseball; etc...]. . .
. . .The historian' s task, then, is to discover the questions that men and women of a past age were answering and to formulate them in the closest possible approximation of the way in which contemporaries would have formulated them if they had been conscious historians. . . The good historian must above all be a questioner. He [she] must question the assumptions of the past and of previous historians; he [she] must question [her] his own assumptions and prejudices; and he [she] must force the past to yield up the questions that were being asked, the problems that were being set, as they were experienced by the person who lived in the period he [she] is studying. The broader [her] his sympathies, the more he [she] is likely to succeed in this imaginative task.
Professor Christopher Hill, former Master, Balliol College Oxford University, cited in Mitchel, J. (Ed.). (1983). Random House Encyclopedia: New Revised Edition, New York, NY: Random House (p. 949).
Modern society's culture, knowledge, views, traditions, daily practices. . . may be described as the tip of an iceberg. The same society's past, using the iceberg analogy, could be described as the rest of the iceberg that is immersed beneath the surface of the ocean. Who we are, what we aspire for, what we cherish etc. . . exemplifies the outcome of a continuous process of evolution. Today's society's conventions, represent a reflection and an extension of both its recent and past history. In order to be able to control destiny, to be able to shape the future, one needs to understand her/his past. To understand the various amendments written into law in this country we must understand the conditions that existed when those laws were written. To be able to rewrite old laws one would have to demonstrate that changes in the human conditions warrant such modifications. Reform or modification of existing laws could not be possibly achieved without a clear comprehension and intelligent interpretation of the historical events or circumstances that brought those laws into existence in the first place (the right to carry arms; title IX and equality issues regarding women s sports programs; student athletes and collegiate athletics programs. . . to name a few examples). In addition, how can we aspire to understand some of the problems that face our society, such as, education in general and physical education in particular, without being able to explore the roots from which the current thorny issues have sprung. To be able to find viable solutions to current predicaments that plague the discipline of physical education we need to be astute students of its historical and philosophical origins as well as the evolutionary process of current thinking and practices.
FOLLOWING IS AN EXAMPLE OF A PROBE INTO SOME OF THE MOST RECENT CHANGES AND TURMOIL EXPERIENCED BY PHYSICAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS ACROSS THE USA.
  • Western Block -- "Physical Education"
  • Eastern Block (former communist regimes) -- "Physical Culture"
Changes in the naming of "Departments of Physical Education Recreation & Dance."
  • Department of Physical Education Recreation & Dance
    Dept. of P.E. & Recreation (the dance major was usually the first to migrate to the Departments of Fine Arts or Theater).
    Next, the "Recreation" major was dropped leaving the title "Department of Physical Education."
As Physical Education continues to develop as an independent academic discipline we may witness more changes in its scope and title
  • Department of Physical Education
  • Department of Kinesiology
  • Dep. of Exercise Science
  • Dep. of Biomechanics
  • Dep. of Exercise & Sport Medicine
  • Dep. of Human Performance. . .etc...
Why are the dance and recreation majors eliminated from many PE programs? Why is the discipline going through a name change? Why are teacher preparation programs shrinking while exercise science programs are blooming?
APPROACHES TO THE STUDY OF HISTORICAL EVENTS
The most critical element of historical information is the historical data. The most crucial aspect of historical data is its credibility. The sources of historical data are divided into two main categories:
  • Primary Source--archeological sites, artifacts, tools, weapons etc. . . and the written records. While language coded historical documents provide much more information than broken pottery, for example, it s a much less objective source of information.
  • Secondary Source--history books and articles, rebuilt archeological sites, architecture and art.
The credibility, the accurateness of historical data come first then comes the linkage. The linkage is the method by which historical data is assembled--the series of events leading up to subject of event. The linkage consists of the chronology of past events and how they re tied in with current conditions.
History is studied by a meticulous process of data gathering.
  • The descriptive perspective--is a "play-by-play" or chronological ( A to Z account of past events. The descriptive perspective fails to point out the association between past and current events (as if past events took place in a vacuum that is totally detached from today's realities). This characterization of history may be the main reason for the lack of interest of our society in the value of knowledge of history. The descriptive perspective caters to the interests and needs of sports and tabloid news trivia.
  • Geographical approach--by specific geographic location (e.g., Asia, Europe, the Middle East, North America. . .etc.).
  • Topical approach--class of study, i.e., art, music, dance, architecture, physical education, play & sports, medicine. . . etc.
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KIN 375 -- Historical and Philosophical Bases
of Physical Education & Sport
CHRONOLOGY OF EGYPTIAN CIVILIZATION
Source: History B94 by Dr. Peter Piccione
Page in a collection of World Wide Web pages maintained by Schaffner Library for Northwestern University / University College students enrolled in History B94: History of Ancient Egypt, instructor Dr. Peter Piccione.
The information provided is intended to assist students in fulfilling course requirements and is not meant to be a comprehensive guide to all networked resources pertaining to Egypt.
Prehistoric Era:
  • Lower Paleolithic Age.................. 250,000 - 90,000 BP*
  • Middle Paleolithic Age................ 90,000 - 30,000 BP
  • Late Paleolithic Age................... 30,000 BP - 7000 BCE
  • Neolithic Age............................... 7,000 - 4,800 BCE
Predynastic Period............................................. 4,800 - 3,050 BCE
Upper Egypt:
Badarian Culture................................... 4,800 - 4,200 BCE
Amratian Culture (=Nagada I)................. 4,200 - 3,700 BCE Gerzean A Culture (=Nagada II)................... 3,700 - 3,250 BCE
Gerzean B Culture (=Nagada III).................. 3,250 - 3,050 BCE
Lower Egypt:
  • Fayum A Culture ................... 4,800 - 4,250 BCE
  • Merimde Culture.................... 4,500 - 3,500 BCE
Archaic Period...................................................... 3,050 - 2,705 BCE
  • Dynasties 1-2
Old Kingdom
  • Dynasties 3-8........................... 2,705 - 2,213 BCE
First Intermediate Period
Dynasties 9-11................................... 2,213 - 1,991 BCE
Middle Kingdom
  • Dynasties 12-13....................... 1,991 - 1,668 BCE
Second Intermediate Period
  • Dynasties 14-17....................... 1,668 - 1,570 BCE
New Kingdom
  • Dynasties 18-20...................... 1,570 - 1,070 BCE
Late Period........................................................... 1,070 - 656 BCE
  • Dynasties 21-24
  • Dynasty 25 (Kushite Domination)
  • Assyrian Domination
Saite Period......................................................... 685 - 525 BC
  • Dynasty 26
Persian Period................................................... 525 - 332 BC
  • Dynasties 27-31
Greek and Roman Period............................... 332 BC - AD 395
*BP = Before Present (i.e., years ago)
**BCE = Before Common Era
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