Philosophy (from page 22)

trained in this fashion. Memory could be developed through memorizing things-words, numbers, etc. This definition of man is recognizable as being at work in many of the nation's schools this very day.

Now, carried forward logically, this conception of education could embrace a vital and active role for physical education. If the object of education is to exercise both mind and body, the curriculum would necessarily have a big job for physical education to do. Historically, however, this conception of man when applied to education has always tended in the direction of the intellectual and mental faculties, their nurture and development, rather than the "faculties" of the body. As a result, physical education has been frozen out once again, except that bodily exercise was considered necessary to maintain proper balance in the individual.

After all, training the mind is hard work. An individual cannot be expected to continue mental activity all day without periodic refresher periods of physical activity. But the prime purpose of these periods of physical activity was not to build the body or train it in special operations, but to restore to the person the energy and inclination to continue with mental exercises.

This, of course, is physical activity, not physical education, and is designed to rejuvenate the individual and render him teachable in the classroom where he must sit quietly for long stretches of time and make his body as immobile as possible. Many of today's elementary school teachers, operating on this principle, view the recess period pretty much as a time for youngsters to blow off steam, to jump and run, and get their rambunction worked out and to return to the quiet of the classroom in a passive and receptive mood so that teaching and learning can start up again.

This is certainly a long, long way from physical education as we see it in our own day and time. And it is interesting to note that except for the classical Greek notion of man, all earlier theories of education have

failed to provide much in the way of educating the body. It is ironic, in a way, that so far as physical education is concerned, we today are temperamentally closer to Plato and Aristotle than to any theory of man to come our way since these men wrote more than 2,000 years ago.

So long as schools continued to base their practice on the theologicalhumanistic-intellectual tradition,

there was no place in them for physical education. No "mentalistic" psychology will ever have any room for a genuine concern for the significance of the body. We stand today, however, on the threshold of a new psychology which sees man as a psychosomatic center of experience. It is in this unified and integrated conception of man's many capabilities that the new education is being hammered into shape.

5. Man is a problem-solving organism. One of the greatest names in the world of teaching and learning over the past 50 years has been that of John Dewey. Dewey's central philosophical idea was his redefinition of man as a problem-solving creature. Of course, Dewey agreed that man had reason, and also a spiritual tendency, that he could store up knowledge, and that the mind could be put through exercises (although he was right in believing that very little education came out of this kind of activity). But he insisted that all of these capabilities of man were simply an outgrowth of his capacity to solve problems; they resulted from his desire to make sense out of his experience and to order and fashion it (reconstruct it, as he put it) to improve and enrich future experience.

Dewey was, in a sense, the interpreter of the modern mind, and the modern mind has awakened to the fallacy of splitting man into two parts, mind and body. Instead of two separate entities, man is increasingly viewed as an organic whole, with both mind and body being instrumental extensions of one another. Physical education is not the training of a separate and disjoined organism which feeds itself, digests, eliminates, and reproduces; it is rather the training of the most im

portant thing a mind has, i.e., the body by whose action, intelligent action, the mind makes known its own presence. In fact, it is wrong even to suggest that the words "body" and "mind" can any longer be uttered in isolation. Each implies the other; neither can stand alone.

Physical education in this modern sense then becomes the education of a most necessary instrument-the body-whose well-being, movement, tone, and expressive capabilities become of vital importance to the growth and development of the human person. Without a body which can do the mind's bidding, without a body which is capable of vigorous and co-ordinated action, of graceful: and lovely movement, of feeling and tension, of love and emotion, of all the things the body can do, man's mind is sterilized into inaction. Without these things, a mind would cease to exist.

The principle of problem solving, moreover, is primarily a social concept. Men go about the business of problem solving by living among other men, by finding out from others' experience as well as their own how problems ought to be solved. For this reason, Dewey's educational theories have always been heavily laden with social concepts. Education then becomes a social affair, a business of working with other human beings on common difficulties, rather than an isolated, anti-social, private affair of soaking up knowledge or exercising the mind.

Why do we have movable furniture in our classrooms today? Why do we glorify group process? Why do we have social promotion in the lower grades? Why do we exhibit the ar work of youngsters on the walls of the classroom? Why do we value uni versal participation in intramura programs over narrower participa tion in varsity athletics? The answe is obvious. Educators are in th business of socializing the individual

Now physical education, far mor than other segments of the schoo program, seems to have found it way more directly and consistently t to the social individual and has bee remarkably successful, especially i its recreational programs, in devel

oping the "social self" which we know all too often lies dormant in many human beings. The work of the modern school in bringing individuals into a sensitive awareness of themselves and thus also of the social situation about them, an awareness that rels to them their heavy depen

pon other human beings,

ly augmented and enrong and vigorous physprogram.

vey's thought possesses d for the experience of he experiences of the now, the pleasures, the the raptures and tore as it is lived by all of ucation can and should n and enrich our awarepossibilities for joy and lie open to us.

You culation of our bodies in 1 purposeful movement HICAGO member of this realm nation, e reading of poetry, the March 24-30, music, the engagement sociation mand social action, or the incang or a great career. What physical education can do for our bodies is what poetics, the fine arts, and philosophy can do for our minds; it can open up new categories of activity, new avenues of delight and fun, new approaches to meaning and value, and make it possible for us to be not only spectators of these provinces of enrichment but also active participants in their exploration and enjoyment.

PE'S PLACE IN EDUCATION

Whatever their conception of human nature, Americans seem to have fallen in love with the physical man. The educated body, in our time, is a highly valued possession. Witness the enormous industry of spectator sports in our American culture. What the school must do is to show to the individual that the raptures of skilful, athletic movement are as necessary to the richer life as any other special facility he seeks to train and develop in his young years, and that if he would have them for himself, rather than witness them in others, he will need to receive instruction in them in the education program. ★

Chicago Park District Photo

plies, with a full display of the new lines. Outdoor education supplies, fishing, casting, and spinning equipment and hunting and shooting displays will appear for the first time.

Exhibitors will welcome your browsing and will have many free materials and information for you. In a separate room on the exhibit floor you will find a large and attractive display of educational exhibits. Both commercial and educational displays will provide you with many ideas for improving your program.

MOVIES, DEMONSTRATIONS

Motion pictures and demonstrations will take place in the commercial exhibit hall. This is the first time we have had space to allow our exhibitors to demonstrate their equipment and games, to teach you how to use the equipment both personally and in your classes. We hope to have continuous demonstrations and movies in this area.

OUTSTANDING LEADERS

Outstanding speakers and leaders will be on every program. This is a real opportunity to hear the leaders in our fields, to meet and to know them as personal friends, and to exchange ideas on the many controversial issues now facing our pro(Concluded on page 48)