This is the first book of its kind on this subject and indeed a very praiseworthy attempt in writing a 'History of Physical Education' in our country. In this small volume Mr. Rajagopalan has covered vast stretches of the periods of Indian history and in presenting the material has tried to deal with the physical activities, sports, games, pastimes of the rulers, their military conquests as well as general education contemplated for the people. The food habits and general rules connected with health and sanitation are also referred to. The essential stress of Physical Education as a part of overall general education has been maintained all through. Set in the background of Indian culture, history and education, this book exemplifies the fact that Physical Education formed an integral part of Indian culture and civilization. Considerable study and hard work have gone into this small volume and I am sure it would stimulate some good thinking on the part of the students and teachers of Physical Education in this country. With its vast field of interest, it should be of appeal to lay readers too.

Originally published in 1957, the first part of this volume examines physical education in classical Greece and Imperial Rome during the first and second centuries A.D. and in Italy and England during the Renaissance. The second part of the book traces the simultaneous development of physical education in different parts of the USA and Europe from the end of the eighteenth century onwards.

Covers physical education from primitive peoples to the 1960's.

During the twentieth century, opportunities for exercise and sports grew significantly for girls and women in the United States. Among the key figures who influenced this revolution were female physical educators. Drawing on extensive archival research, Active Bodies examines the ideas, experiences, and instructional programs of white and black female physical educators who taught in public schools and diverse colleges and universities, including coed and single-sex, public and private, and predominantly white and historically black institutions. Working primarily with female students, women physical educators had to consider what an active female could and should do in comparison to boys and men. Applying concepts of sex differences, they debated the implications of female anatomy, physiology, reproductive functions, and psychosocial traits for achieving gender parity in the gym. Teachers' interpretations were conditioned by the places where they worked, as well as developments in education, feminism, and the law, society's changing attitudes about gender, race, and sexuality, and scientific controversies over the nature and significance of sex differences. While deliberating fairness for their students, women physical educators also pursued equity for themselves, as their workplaces and nascent profession often marginalized female and minority personnel. Questions of difference and equity divided the field throughout the century; while some teachers favored moderate views and incremental change, others promoted justice for their students and themselves by exerting authority at their schools, critiquing traditional concepts of "difference," and devising innovative curricula. Exploring physical education within and beyond the gym, Active Bodies sheds new light on the enduring complexities of difference and equity in American culture.

History and Philosophy of Physical Education and Sport traces the essentials of the history and the philosophical underpinnings of kinesiology to provide students with foundational knowledge within the discipline. The text covers prehistoric physical activity through 21st century sports and physical education, as well as ethics, epistemology, and aesthetics. It prepares students for further study within the discipline and encourages them to consider their place in the history of

This comprehensive textbook examines adapted physical activity from across the disciplinary spectrum. From the history of adapted physical education to current practices in rehabilitative medicine, from working with children with emotional disabilities to developing care plans for adults with movement limitations, this collection surveys issues and helps practitioners plan sensible, well-grounded programs. (Midwest).

First published in 1992, David Kirk’s book analyses the public debate leading up to the 1987 General Election over the place and purpose of physical education in British schools. By locating this debate in a historical context, specifically in the period following the end of the Second World War, it attempts to illustrate how the meaning of school physical education and its aims, content and pedagogy were contested by a number of vying groups. It stresses the influence of the culture of postwar social reconstruction in shaping these groups’ ideas about physical education. Through this analysis, the book attempts to explain how physical education has been socially constructed during the postwar years and, more specifically, to suggest how the subject came to be used as a symbol of subversive, left wing values in the campaign leading to the 1987 election. In more general terms, the book provides a case study of the social construction of school knowledge. The book takes an original approach to the question of curriculum change in physical education, building on increasing interest in historical research in the field of curriculum studies. It adopts a social constructionist perspective, arguing that change occurs through the active involvement of competing groups in struggles over limited material and ideological (discursive) resources. It also draws on contemporary developments in social and cultural theory, particularly the concepts of discourse and ideological hegemony, to explain how the meaning of physical education has been constructed, and how particular definitions of the subject have become orthodoxes. The book presents new historical evidence from a period which had previously been neglected by researchers, despite the fact that 1945 marked a watershed in the development of the understanding and teaching of physical education in schools.