Research on the Historical Development of the Physical Education System in Insti

Abstract. Physical education, as an important part of the modern quality-oriented education, is of great significance to train excellent personnel for the society. Since the foundation of the People’s Republic of China, the physical education system in general institutions of higher learning has undergone an in-depth reform of five stages, and thus a good foundation has been laid for the current physical education reform. On this basis, the developing course of the physical education history in institutions of higher learning is discussed in this paper.

Key words: Physical Education in Institutions of Higher Learning; Reform and Development; Historical Review; Research

1. Introduction

The physical education in institutions of higher learning has been restricted by the various factors from the society in the process of its development. For example, it is greatly affected by a series of factors such as social economy, culture, science and technology level, and political views. In the meantime, the physical education is more greatly reformed along with the gradual development of China, which is a development epitome of the People’s Republic of China since the foundation, namely, the development course of the physical education in institutions of higher learning is a witness to the development of China since the foundation. Therefore, reviewing the physical education history in institutions of higher learning and drawing lessons from the historical experience will help people better look into the future.

2. The infancy of the physical education system

in 1949-1956

In 1949-1956, the importance of school physical education had been gradually recognized in China along with the gradual development of the society [2]. In this period, however, there had been no the ability of China to independently create a physical education system yet. Therefore, the higher physical education syllabus was introduced by China from the former Soviet Union in 1953 as the physical education system of the earliest period, and also was applied to the physical education in primary, secondary, and institutions of higher learning all over the world. This system was mainly to convey three ideas: (1) school shall have the obligation to teach students the related knowledge of physical education; (2) school shall offer the courses of sports techniques; (3) schools shall offer a training of sports skills. The teaching ideas were to achieve the ultimate goal of training sports techniques through communicating the knowledge in physical education and explaining the movement skills. However, the teaching method was completely copied from the physical education model of the former Soviet Union, including the explanation to knowledge, the demonstration and error correction or the movements, etc. In 1956, the first formal system related to the physical education for institutions of higher learning was issued in China since the foundation, which was named as the "instructions about strengthening the leadership and also further carrying out the alliance of the general institutions of higher learning". Before this, the extracurricular exercises for the physical education in institutions of higher learning were formulated according to the education system of the former Soviet Union. In this system, the physical education of all colleges and universities was required to be brought into the teaching work and also as one of the important tasks in school teaching work; the relevant requirements were also proposed for the responsibilities of each school principal: it was necessary to strengthen the physical education measures and preliminarily build the physical education system in institutions of higher learning. After the first system, the syllabus for the physical education in the general institutions of higher learning was made in China. With the implementation of the physical education system and syllabus, the physical education model copied from the former Soviet Union was broken, and this was a preliminary reform of the physical education in China. As a result, not only a good foundation was laid for the development of the physical education in China’s institutions of higher learning, and also the physical education of China was promoted to step into the right track.

3. The formal creation phase of the physical education system in 1957-1965

During the period from 1957 to 1965, the physical education in institutions of higher learning also formally entered the creation phase under the stimulus of the rapid domestic education and sports development. On February 27, 1957, Chairman MAO, as the national leader, briefly proposed at the supreme state conference that it was necessary to train the talented personnel with an all-round moral, intellectual, and physical development, aiming to promote the educated people to become the working people with good socialist consciousness and cultural quality. In September 1958, there was a clear positioning on the school physical education in the 10-year plan report of physical education. At this time, the school physical education was not only simply to set up a course in school, but more importantly it was one of the important parts to train the talented personnel with an all-round moral, intellectual, and physical development, for the ultimate goal of serving the national construction and labor production. In order to further implement the guiding ideology, the physical education system regulations and project standards of "defending the country based on labor" was issued in China in October of the same year. During the next two years, the education department first made the Interim Provisions on the Higher Physical Education Work and later clearly specified the Rules for the Syllabus of The Physical Education, issued the Essentials of the General Physical Education Materials for Institutions of Higher Learning, and also published the Reference Books for the Physical Education in Institutions of Higher Learning, in order to make the contents of the physical education in institutions of higher learning consistent. With the series of measures, a good foundation was laid for the development of physical education, so that the smooth development of the physical education was promoted at that time. In the period from 1959 to 1965, the normal teaching order in China was disrupted, and also the radical ideas were not conducive to the healthy development of students and impaired the health of the students to some extent. In the same period, however, the level of competitive sports in China’s institutions of higher learning was significantly improved.

4. The physical education was damaged and entered the phase of disorderly development in 1966-1976

From the impact of China’s "cultural revolution", a large scale of "big series" movement was implemented by some "red guards" composing of students all over the country, so that the paralysis of the school teaching order was directly caused, and all institutions of higher learning were fully filled with the turmoil of war. Thus, the physical education system in institutions of higher learning entered a phase of the disorderly development truly. Later, there was a slogan of "resume classes and carry out revolution". Under the intense effect of this slogan, majority of students chose to return to school and accordingly the system was changed by schools and one of the most important was to shorten the length of schooling in the whole reform. The reform made school courses and class hours greatly reduced, and also a lot of time and energy were spent by students on the physical exercises. From 1967, the position of physical education courses was gradually replaced with military training. In 1969, the conflict occurring in the Sino-soviet border created the favorable conditions for the development and popularization of military training in schools, and learning military affairs was listed by all institutions of higher learning as an important part necessary for students to learn in the period of schooling for conforming to the development trend. Then, the so-called military physical education course emerged later. From 1970, the teaching order in China’s institutions of higher learning was gradually returned to the normal, while "military training" was also included in the normal teaching courses. At that time, students mainly learned some fundamental items such as ball, gymnastics, track and field, and swimming in the military physical education courses. Certainly, there were some teaching projects such as military boxing and shooting oriented at the military physical education. As a result, the teaching order in China’s institutions of higher learning had begun to gradually step into the right track.

5. The physical education system entered the phase of recovery and also was changed in some parts in 1977-1992

At the third plenary session of CPC in 1978, CPC and the government rolled out some important reform measures, and also significant achievements were received from the later promotion and application. "Yangzhou Conference", which was held in May 1979, was of great significance and exerted a far-reaching influence on China’s school physical education, because it made the door of China’s physical education system opened. After the Conference, Interim Regulations on the Physical Education Work in the Institutions of Higher Learning (Pilot) were issued, in which specific provisions were provided from the levels of higher physical education and scientific research, and also all rules and regulations clearly showed the tasks of the physical education in the institutions of higher learning, and also the measure standards and implementation principles of the physical education were explicitly made. After the Interim Regulations on the Physical Education Work in the Institutions of Higher Learning (Pilot) were jointly issued by the Ministry of Education and the State Physical Culture and Sports Commission, the syllabus of the physical education was re-compiled by the Ministry of Education, and the teaching models and methods in all institutions of higher learning were integrated as a whole in the issued syllabus for the physical education in the general institutions of higher learning. At the same time, College Students Sports Qualified Standards and Measures for the Implementation of College Students Sports Qualified Standards were issued by the State Education Commission, in which clear and detailed requirements were provided mainly according to the sports qualified level of the schooling students. School Physical Education Work Regulations, issued on May 14, 1990, showed that high importance was necessarily attached to the mental and health development of students in physical education, and therefore the idea of "health education" emerged at the historic moment [3]. In 1985, high-level sports delegations were first established in China’s schools, aiming at training China’s excellent competitive sports personnel in an all-round way, and also improving the sports competition ability of China’s institutions of higher learning. In the next two years, the notice about the "institutions of higher learning enroll the high-level athletes" was drawn up according to the agreement between the State Education Commission and the National Sports Commission. The implementation of this system not only made the competitive sports level of China’s colleges and universities increased to a new level, and also the level of higher physical education improved to some extent. Meanwhile, intangible assets were also brought to the schools, and fresh blood was injected into the physical education in institutions of higher learning, so that the physical education in institutions of higher learning was full of energy.

6. The rapid development phase of the physical education after 1993

For promoting students in institutions of higher learning to insist on physical exercises, the notice about the Suggestion on the Implementation of the National Fitness Program was issued on July 21, 1995 in China, in which students were encouraged to insist on physical exercises and carry out "health education" all the time. In June 1999, the Central Party Committee and government pointed out "healthy physical condition is the basic premise of the young to serve for the country and people, and also a reflection to the strong vitality of the Chinese nation", and "the teaching idea of health first should be always place in the first position in school education for practically strengthen the physical education, promoting students to know well the basic sports skills, and training students to develop a good habit of doing physical exercises [4]". By summing up the teaching reform experience of ten years in the physical education of China’s institutions of higher learning, the guideline for the teaching of the physical education courses in general institutions of higher learning was issued. The promotion of this measure had driven China to enter the era of quality-oriented education in an all-round way. After the idea of "health education" was promoted, the teaching idea of "health first" was introduced to China. In the Standards for Physical Health of Students (pilot), a scientific and reasonable teaching method was implemented, for the purpose of training the quality-oriented personnel in an all-round way. After reviewing the development course of the physical education history in China, it is known that the competitive sports level of China has taken a big step forward.

Although China has increased the intensity of reforming the physical education in institutions of higher learning and strives to achieve quality-oriented education, the physical education is marketed with the characteristics of history and complexity after years of historical evolution, so that China’s institutions of higher learning still cannot implement the quality-oriented education according to the plan. Therefore, it is seen that China’s physical education is deeply affected by exam-oriented education and competitive sports from the perspective of the current situation. To make the quality-oriented education implemented early in China and train the quality personnel with an all-round development, the intensity of the reform should be increased.

References

[1] LI Xiumei. A Concise Edition about the Sports History of the People's Republic of China [M]. Beijing: Beijing Sport University Press, 2001.

[2] ZHOU Honglv. The Evolution and Consideration of Sports in China’s Colleges and Universities [J]. Journal of Shanghai Sports Institute, 2000 (1).

[3] The Collection of School Sports Health Work [M]. Beijing: People's Education Press, 1997.