ERIC Number: EJ1231704
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2017-Sep
Pages: 5
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0037-7724
EISSN: N/A
Using Sports to Teach Civic Values
Stacy, Michelle
Social Education, v81 n4 p224-228 Sep 2017
In the summer of 1891, an instructor at the Springfield, Massachusetts, Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) Training College named James Naismith created a new game for boys to play indoors. Naismith attached two peach baskets to both ends of the gym. After devising some rules, Naismith invited some of his students to play the first game of basketball. Though American society today views basketball in terms of skill and physical fitness, Naismith saw basketball as a "laboratory for the development of moral attributes." Athletic programs were introduced to schools as part of citizenship training, not physical fitness training. Physical educators advocated for the inclusion of sports in schools by promoting the idea that sports taught students fairness and rules. Physical educators utilized the rhetoric of civic values to justify adding physical education to the school curriculum during the early twentieth century. However, by using civic arguments, sports and athletics became a social movement, rather than a physical one. Schools and coaches provided guidance for athletes and facilitated experiences for boys to learn moral and civic values. The coach's role was primarily one of citizenship educator, rather than fitness trainer. Coaches taught team building, cooperation, and teamwork as the foundation of their teams, not necessarily skill development. Just as the social studies teacher taught civic values to students, so did the coach. The emphasis of citizenship education on sports led to a long-term connection between social studies teaching and athletic coaching that still exists in society today. This article provides selected primary sources which can inspire a lesson on the historical connection between community building, citizenship education, and school athletic programs.
Descriptors: Athletics, Citizenship Education, Interdisciplinary Approach, Physical Education, Athletes, Moral Values, Teamwork, Cooperation, Social Studies, Civics, Educational History, Team Sports, Gender Differences
National Council for the Social Studies. 8555 Sixteenth Street #500, Silver Spring, MD 20910. Tel: 800-683-0812; Tel: 301-588-1800; Fax: 301-588-2049; e-mail: membership@ncss.org; Web site: http://www.socialstudies.org
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A