Date of Award:

5-1941

Document Type:

Thesis

Degree Name:

Master of Science (MS)

Department:

School of Teacher Education and Leadership

Department name when degree awarded

Education

Committee

Not specified

Abstract

During the past ten years there has been an increased evidence of the importance of health and physical education in the United States. Leaders in this field are attempting to establish physical education in its rightful place in the school curriculum. The Research Quarterly for October, 1936 says:

It (physical education) should be dignified by providing a definite curriculum content comparable to that in academic fields, as opposed to the traditional practice of merely giving a child exercise regardless of the medium envolved. (12, p.99)

The growth of health and physical education in Utah has been very slow. In 1908 (2) the Utah Physical Education Association was formed through the efforts of Professor Jacob Bolin and Professor Maude Mae Babcock, both of the University of Utah. This association functioned and was affiliated with the American Physical Education Association for about fifteen years when interest waned and the association was disolved.

In 1931 (2) a new interest was born; a new constitution was proposed; and in 1932 the new form of organization was adopted.

The schools made no conscious effort to contribute to this field in the way of supervision until 1935 (14) when the Division of Health, Physical Education, and Recreation, with Miss Bernice Moss as Director, was set up as a part of the Department of Public Instruction. A course of study (15) for the twelve grades was planned with the Utah Health and Physical Education Association and the Division of Health, Physical Education, and Recreation of the State Department of Public Instruction cooperating. This course of study was built, using the findings of the Committee on Curriculum Research of the College Physical Education Association. The work of this committee is reviewed in Chapter II where the Origin and Nature of their score card, which is the basis for this study, is given.

Since 1935, health and physical education programs in the high schools of Utah have grown very fast. In 1937 health and physical education instruction was required in junior high schools and for two of the three years in senior high schools. (14) It was also recommended that the elementary schools provide a daily period of directed physical education. The State Director has visited all the schools, and through conferences with instructors and principals, has done much to overcome the weakness expressed by Swenson (16) in 1935 when he found that one of the greatest weaknesses in physical education in Utah is that there is no standardization of programs.

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