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101
PHYSICAL EDUCATION, 1955.
The following is the report of the Area Advisers of Physical
Education :—
" During recent years a period of experiment and investigation
has been in progress in the Bromley area, through which it is hoped
to determine the most effective type of Physical Education for
building strong, healthy members of the community. It is now
time to take stock to see whether our present schemes are on the
right lines and whether we are achieving our aims in relation to the
understanding and development of the individual child.
The realisation that the child has need of many and varied
outlets for development, makes it more than ever necessary for the
teacher to study the education of the child as a whole, thus widening
his knowledge and understanding of the scope of Physical
Education. Those interested in the subject understand that a need
exists to formulate provision during the full school course for a
wider range of physical activities than formerly, which will be fully
developmental and which may be usefully continued as recreation
in adolescence and adult life. If we are to enable an individual to
reach his full capacity, we must not apply standard formula or
mass production methods to large groups of children with their
differing backgrounds and personalities, taught under widely
varying conditions. But this freedom from standardised lessons
does imply greater responsibility ; it demands more detailed understanding
of the individual pupil and of the fundamental principles
underlying schemes of work. These fundamental principles
must still remain the central guiding factor in any general scheme
of Physical Education and must not be lost sight of in the widening
programmes ahead.
The misguided idea, current in some quarters, that discipline
in schools now sanctions unbridled self expression must be discouraged.
The child best develops a sense of self-discipline in a
school community where both ' rights ' and ' duties' go together.
Within such a community a tradition of service is fostered, and no
child is allowed to drift without control or regard for others. In
a good physical training lesson a sense of responsibility, service and
self-discipline are an essential part of modern training.
During this period of experimentation, in spite of teething
troubles and natural feeling of indecision, the standard of effort at
all age levels has shown marked improvement and is still progressing
favourably. The physical education in schools in the
Borough is generally alive, interesting and progressive, though we
could still wish for greater effort in a few cases. Games once
again seem to have suffered most from the vagaries of inclement
weather, though the normal lessons in physical education suffered
rather badly during the early months of the year. This particularly