Physical Education in the Conditions of Connecting School with Life

The postulate of an all-round development of man, the principle of linking up school with life, entail the necessity to re-appraise the existing conception of physical education of the youth, to work out and account for a new conception meeting the needs of society In the epoch of Communism.
Looking back at the developm ent of P. T. at our schools we can see the difference in the purpose and conception of P. T. at schools under capitalism and under socialism . The contemporary state of P. T. at schools In C zechoslovakia Is analysed. Its good points and mainly Its shortcom ings are pointed out. It Is stated that overall physical ability of the youth is lagging behind, that the majority of the youth has failed to develop and acquire apermanent and active Interest in physical training and sport. The causes of these negative phenomena are explained.
The main part of the article deals w ith the problem einvolving P. T. and its new con ception from the view point of the aim and tasks o f P. T., content, methods and forms of work in the conditions of the »school reform«. An explanation Is given of the social function of P. T., its share in an all-round developm ent of the child in the sense of being a universally developing and balancing factor. In questions of content, the function of basic, extented and selective teaching material is explained and its requirements are accounted for from the viewpoint of age-groups. A uniform didactic system is arrived at, which finds expression in a uniform P. T. curriculum for boys and girls from six to nineteen years of age common to all forms of school and after-school P. T.
In questions of methods and forms of work stress is laid on the necessity to increase the pupils’ activity as a pedagogical basis for raising the physiological and emotional efficiency. Some manifestations of hackneyed approach and formalism in physical education of the youth are criticised and hints are given for ways of removing these shortcomings.
In another part of the article conditions are discussed for the realisation of a new conception of physical education. These conditions concern the provision of material facilities for P. T., the training and post-graduate training of teachers, P. T. Instructors and coaches, scientific and research work and the propagating of P. T.
In conclusion of the article concrete measures to be taken are recommended.