UW–Madison’s Cindy Kuhrasch speaks about the history of physical education — and how to make it better — in a Cheddar News video report that is headlined, “The Real Reasons We Have Gym Class at All.”
Kuhrasch is the director of the Physical Education Teacher Education program in the School of Education’s Department of Kinesiology.
In the report, Kuhrasch explains that gym class evolved after the Industrial Revolution as people traded farm work for factory jobs, and therefore became less active than they had been previously. Initially this wasn’t perceived as a problem, but fitness became more important during World Wars I and II.
The truth was, young Americans weren’t fit for combat. “And so society responded by using physical education as a way to train future soldiers, so if there was another war they would be ready,” Kuhrasch says.
Even after the wars, traditional physical education has continued to include hallmarks of the military, with students often compelled to do pull ups, sit ups, and other drills. Kuhrasch argues that this is one reason that many people have strong negative reactions to gym class, and she recommends a different approach that focuses more on social and emotional skills.
“We’ve seen in some of the research that if students feel cared for and appreciated and accepted by the people in their physical education class, they are much more likely to participate in physical activity,” she says.
To learn more, check out the full segment via the Cheddar News YouTube channel.