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For many people PE 1)encapsulates their unhappiest memories of school. They look back to 2)blasted, 3)windswept sports fields where shouting PE teachers in ill-fitting 4)tracksuits 5)marshalled unwilling pupils. The classic fictional 6)depiction is the 1969 film 7)Kes, where 8)Brian Glover’s Mr. Sugden takes part in a football match as both player and referee, awards himself a penalty and then9)remonstrates with Billy Casper by knocking him into the mud with a wet football.
The popular perception is that something started to change in the culture of sports and physical education in schools in the 1970s. Activities that didn’t 10)alienate the unsporty started to 11)chip away at the dominance of competitive team sport. But now there is to be a shift back towards competitive sport. The government is ending the 12)ring-fencing of £162m of funding for School Sport Partnerships, which promoted co-operation in sport and PE provision between schools, as well as inter-school competitions.
Opponents say this will lead to money being used to plug gaps elsewhere in school budgets, but the government is instead focusing on its plans for Olympics-style competitions for schools. But what everybody does agree on is the importance of PE. Adults may look back 13)ruefully to being made to exercise in their underpants or do punishment laps on a field, but few would dispute the long-term benefits. “Getting the regular habit of exercise 14)ingrained controls weight later on in life,” says Dr. Andy Franklyn-Miller, a consultant in sports medicine. His representative body, the British Association of Sport and Exercise Medicine, calls for a health-focused segment to be incorporated into PE lessons.
But it’s not just about 15)obesity, Dr. Franklyn-Miller says. Getting used to exercise helps avoid injuries later in life. Even basic routines like improving balance can be vital to developing children. Educational consultant Sue Palmer, author of Toxic Childhood, has seen children arriving in primary school with difficulties with basic movement. “They have really poor physical skills and physical strength. They are coming through ‘16)floppy’ because of [early years spent] staring at screens.”
It puts even more of an 17)onus on PE teachers. And they have to make their subject fun. While you might be able to force children to learn something from academic lessons, a string of early Kes-style experiences might make some 18)shun sport in adult life.
Comedian 19)John O’Farrell has unpleasant memories from life at his all-boys school. “My school didn’t do football, so I was forced to do rugby. I was small and skinny...was thrown the wet, muddy ball and everyone tried to jump on my head.” Passing the ball immediately, even to the opposition, was O’Farrell’s solution. He then tried basketball, but as a late-developer did not like playing in the “skins” team, without shirts. “I tried to shoot for the 20)hoop without revealing my bald, 21)pre-pubescent 22)armpits. The teacher would say ‘Shoot, O’Farrell, shoot…No, not 23)underarm’.” O’Farrell started forging sick-notes from his mother and soon developed a 24)cottage industry performing the same service for other boys.
Former headteacher Roger Hurn, author of 101 Dance Ideas, goes into schools to encourage the use of dance. He says children can be 25)put off sport by bad experiences, as he was by a strict, rugby-mad PE teacher. “I never played rugby again, the experience under that teacher was so horrible. I won’t even watch it. It has a negative effect.”
Modern PE is aimed at avoiding the above26)scenarios. A 27)plethora of options have sprung up in recent years. A recent government study found 37% of schools offered cheerleading. At a fifth of schools a child can learn yoga. Individual sports like boxing are on the rise, but traditional team games like rugby, hockey and netball are in decline.
28)Peripatetic 29)practitioner William Allen, author of Games, Ideas and Activities for Primary PE, will try anything to get children’s enthusiasm flaring. Street dance, tri-golf and American football are among the activities he uses. “PE is now a gateway to doing things outside school,” says Mr. Allen.
But an older generation of PE teachers also remember great things being done in schools. Now retired, Ray Twentyman taught PE for more than four decades before retiring last year and focusing on coaching young athletes. Starting out in the 60s at a school in Liverpool, he recalls an excellent provision of football, rugby, cross country, tennis, 30)athletics, and volleyball, among others. “It was unusually good, but there were lots of other good schools,” he says.
But by the 1980s PE teaching was becoming more prescribed, with the National Curriculum meaning many boxes had to be ticked. “You did six-week blocks of a sport. I defy anybody to learn a game properly in six weeks,” says Mr. Twentyman. Teachers also have a more cautious mindset. “I liked kids to 31)get stuck in. I think today, if it’s raining or windy, they won’t go out and play,” he says. His colleague Chris Sproat, now also retired, was disappointed at the limits the evolving health and safety culture imposed. Instead of just taking a group of children for a run outside school premises, forms had to be diligently filled.
Both teachers and children might want things to be a little freer. “There are kids who like structured sport, but for the ones who don’t we need to be more creative about encouraging them to be physically active,” says Tim Gill, author of No Fear: Growing Up in a Risk Averse Society. “That might mean introducing more fun, more choice and maybe a little bit of danger.”
But whatever happens, the place of the brutal Mr. Sugdens is hopefully gone. With funding cuts to school sports planned, a shift to a more competitive 32)ethos is 33)mooted, but there is likely to be a bitter battle for the heart of PE.
对很多人来说，体育课浓缩了他们学生生涯中最不开心的回忆。如今仍能回想起这样的场景：在一片荒凉萧疏的运动场上，体育老师穿着不合身的运动服，扯着嗓子训令不情不愿的小学生们操练。1969年的电影《小孩与鹰》就是一部描述如此场景的经典之作。影片中，布莱恩·格拉弗饰演的老师萨格登先生在一场足球比赛中既当运动员又当裁判，他先赏给自己一个罚球，然后把一个湿湿的足球往比利·卡斯伯身上扔去，将其击倒在泥泞之中，以此来惩罚他。
到了20世纪70年代，人们开始感觉到体育文化及学校的体育课程有某种程度的转向。一些不会使不善运动者受罪嫌恶的运动形式开始一点点地削弱团体竞技运动的主导地位。不过到了今天，对抗性竞技运动又将重获抬头机会。（英国）政府正打算终结对“校园体育合作”项目高达一亿六千两百万英镑的资金拨款。该项目旨在促进体育运动的发展及体育课程开设方面的校际合作，也鼓励校际竞赛。
反对者表示，这将使学校财政预算的资金都用在填补其他短缺上而非用在体育课程上，但政府关注的则是其为学校打造的奥林匹克式竞赛机制的计划。不过，体育课的重要性则无人质疑。成年人也许会凄惨兮兮地回忆起那些被迫穿着小短裤锻炼或者在操场上罚跑圈的经历，但却极少有人会否认运动所带来的长期益处。“养成定期锻炼身体的习惯能让你日后控制好体重。”运动医学顾问安迪·富兰克林—米勒博士如是说。他所服务的机构——英国体育与运动医学协会——呼吁在体育课程中加入注重健康的内容。
但这不仅仅与肥胖问题有关，富兰克林—米勒博士说。养成运动的习惯有助于降低生活中受伤的几率。即使是像提高平衡力这样的基础训练对于成长中的儿童来说也极其重要。教育顾问、《有毒的童年》的作者苏·帕尔玛就见过一些孩子在进小学时连做最基本的动作都有困难。“他们几乎没有什么动作能力，体力也很差。由于童年几乎都是坐在屏幕前度过的，整个人软趴趴的。”
体育老师肩上的责任又加重了一份。他们得让体育课变得生动有趣。你可以强迫孩子去学习文化课，但像《小孩与鹰》中所呈现的那种早期体育教育体验只会让一些人在往后的生活中对体育运动敬而远之。
喜剧演员约翰·欧法雷尔就很记得自己读男校时那些不堪回首的一幕幕。“我们学校没有开设足球课，我只能被迫选择橄榄球课。我当时又矮小又瘦弱……经常是那个湿漉漉、沾满泥土的球被扔过来，然后所有人都跳着朝我头顶压过来。”欧法雷尔的解决方式是快速地把球传出去，即使是传给对方球员也无所谓。他后来又尝试了篮球，但作为一个发育晚的人，他不喜欢那种赤膊上阵有“肌肤之亲”的对抗运动。 “我尝试用一种不用露出那光秃秃、尚未长出腋毛的腋窝的方式去投球。老师就会说：‘投篮，欧法雷尔。投……不，手臂要抬起来。’”欧法雷尔开始冒充起妈妈写病假条，不久还俨然成了一个“小作坊”——替其他男孩子提供同样的服务。
《101个舞蹈点子》的作者罗杰·赫恩曾经担任过班主任，他再度走进校园是为了推广舞蹈。他说，孩子们会因为一些不好的经历而放弃体育运动，正如他以前被一个对橄榄球无限狂热而且要求严苛的体育老师吓到一样。“我从此再也没玩过橄榄球，在那个老师带领下训练的那段经历实在太恐怖了。我甚至都不会观看橄榄球赛。那段经历带来的负面影响相当大。”
现代的体育课就旨在防止以上的情形再度发生。近年来，各具特色的选择不断涌现。最近一项政府调查结果表明，37%的学校开展了拉拉队课程。五分之一的学校为孩子提供瑜伽课程。诸如拳击这样的个人体育运动项目也呈上升趋势，但是传统的团队项目，如橄榄球、曲棍球、篮球等则在走下坡路。
《小学体育课之游戏、想法与活动》的作者威廉·阿兰兼任多所学校的体育教师，他会尽一切可能调动起孩子们的热情。街舞、迷你高尔夫和美式足球（或称美式橄榄球）是他经常教授的活动项目。“如今，体育课是让学生走出校外的一扇门。”阿兰先生说。
但老一辈的体育教师们则依旧记得在校园里的那些美好时光。退休教师雷·特文提曼教了四十多年体育课，一直醉心于培养年轻运动员，直到去年才正式退休。20世纪60年代他最开始任教于利物浦一家学校，那里开设的项目一应俱全，足球、橄榄球、越野跑、网球、田径、排球，等等。“那（家学校）实在太棒了，当然，也有其他很多不错的学校。”他说。
但到了20世纪80年代，关于体育课教学的规定越来越多，有了全国性的教学大纲，那意味着很多时候得照章办事。“一项运动有六周的教学规划时间。我不认为有谁能在六周内准确地掌握一项运动。”特文提曼表示。教师们的心态也愈发小心谨慎了。“我喜欢看到孩子们全情投入。我想今时今日，如果外面下雨或刮风的话，他们是不会到室外去活动的。”他说。他的同事克里斯·斯普劳特如今也退休了，提起现在那以健康和安全为重的体育文化所带来的诸多强加限制，他表示失望。与以前简简单单就可以带学生在校园外跑上一圈相比，如今还必须填上选项细致繁多的表格才行。
无论是老师还是学生，大概都希望能够更自由一点。“有的孩子喜欢正规系统的运动项目，但对于那些不喜欢的孩子，我们则必须想出一些新方法来鼓励他们动起来。”《不是威胁：冒着反社会的风险成长》一书的作者蒂姆·吉尔这样说。“那就意味着我们应该加入更多乐趣，更多选择，或许还有一点点冒险性。”
无论如何，希望像粗暴的萨格登先生那样的人不复存在。随着政府缩减对原定学校体育项目的财政支出，体育课教学往竞赛性方向转变的问题也被提出来讨论。但对于什么才是体育课教学的核心，看来还将有一场激烈的争论。
The popular perception is that something started to change in the culture of sports and physical education in schools in the 1970s. Activities that didn’t 10)alienate the unsporty started to 11)chip away at the dominance of competitive team sport. But now there is to be a shift back towards competitive sport. The government is ending the 12)ring-fencing of £162m of funding for School Sport Partnerships, which promoted co-operation in sport and PE provision between schools, as well as inter-school competitions.
Opponents say this will lead to money being used to plug gaps elsewhere in school budgets, but the government is instead focusing on its plans for Olympics-style competitions for schools. But what everybody does agree on is the importance of PE. Adults may look back 13)ruefully to being made to exercise in their underpants or do punishment laps on a field, but few would dispute the long-term benefits. “Getting the regular habit of exercise 14)ingrained controls weight later on in life,” says Dr. Andy Franklyn-Miller, a consultant in sports medicine. His representative body, the British Association of Sport and Exercise Medicine, calls for a health-focused segment to be incorporated into PE lessons.
But it’s not just about 15)obesity, Dr. Franklyn-Miller says. Getting used to exercise helps avoid injuries later in life. Even basic routines like improving balance can be vital to developing children. Educational consultant Sue Palmer, author of Toxic Childhood, has seen children arriving in primary school with difficulties with basic movement. “They have really poor physical skills and physical strength. They are coming through ‘16)floppy’ because of [early years spent] staring at screens.”
It puts even more of an 17)onus on PE teachers. And they have to make their subject fun. While you might be able to force children to learn something from academic lessons, a string of early Kes-style experiences might make some 18)shun sport in adult life.
Comedian 19)John O’Farrell has unpleasant memories from life at his all-boys school. “My school didn’t do football, so I was forced to do rugby. I was small and skinny...was thrown the wet, muddy ball and everyone tried to jump on my head.” Passing the ball immediately, even to the opposition, was O’Farrell’s solution. He then tried basketball, but as a late-developer did not like playing in the “skins” team, without shirts. “I tried to shoot for the 20)hoop without revealing my bald, 21)pre-pubescent 22)armpits. The teacher would say ‘Shoot, O’Farrell, shoot…No, not 23)underarm’.” O’Farrell started forging sick-notes from his mother and soon developed a 24)cottage industry performing the same service for other boys.
Former headteacher Roger Hurn, author of 101 Dance Ideas, goes into schools to encourage the use of dance. He says children can be 25)put off sport by bad experiences, as he was by a strict, rugby-mad PE teacher. “I never played rugby again, the experience under that teacher was so horrible. I won’t even watch it. It has a negative effect.”
Modern PE is aimed at avoiding the above26)scenarios. A 27)plethora of options have sprung up in recent years. A recent government study found 37% of schools offered cheerleading. At a fifth of schools a child can learn yoga. Individual sports like boxing are on the rise, but traditional team games like rugby, hockey and netball are in decline.
28)Peripatetic 29)practitioner William Allen, author of Games, Ideas and Activities for Primary PE, will try anything to get children’s enthusiasm flaring. Street dance, tri-golf and American football are among the activities he uses. “PE is now a gateway to doing things outside school,” says Mr. Allen.
But an older generation of PE teachers also remember great things being done in schools. Now retired, Ray Twentyman taught PE for more than four decades before retiring last year and focusing on coaching young athletes. Starting out in the 60s at a school in Liverpool, he recalls an excellent provision of football, rugby, cross country, tennis, 30)athletics, and volleyball, among others. “It was unusually good, but there were lots of other good schools,” he says.
But by the 1980s PE teaching was becoming more prescribed, with the National Curriculum meaning many boxes had to be ticked. “You did six-week blocks of a sport. I defy anybody to learn a game properly in six weeks,” says Mr. Twentyman. Teachers also have a more cautious mindset. “I liked kids to 31)get stuck in. I think today, if it’s raining or windy, they won’t go out and play,” he says. His colleague Chris Sproat, now also retired, was disappointed at the limits the evolving health and safety culture imposed. Instead of just taking a group of children for a run outside school premises, forms had to be diligently filled.
Both teachers and children might want things to be a little freer. “There are kids who like structured sport, but for the ones who don’t we need to be more creative about encouraging them to be physically active,” says Tim Gill, author of No Fear: Growing Up in a Risk Averse Society. “That might mean introducing more fun, more choice and maybe a little bit of danger.”
But whatever happens, the place of the brutal Mr. Sugdens is hopefully gone. With funding cuts to school sports planned, a shift to a more competitive 32)ethos is 33)mooted, but there is likely to be a bitter battle for the heart of PE.
对很多人来说，体育课浓缩了他们学生生涯中最不开心的回忆。如今仍能回想起这样的场景：在一片荒凉萧疏的运动场上，体育老师穿着不合身的运动服，扯着嗓子训令不情不愿的小学生们操练。1969年的电影《小孩与鹰》就是一部描述如此场景的经典之作。影片中，布莱恩·格拉弗饰演的老师萨格登先生在一场足球比赛中既当运动员又当裁判，他先赏给自己一个罚球，然后把一个湿湿的足球往比利·卡斯伯身上扔去，将其击倒在泥泞之中，以此来惩罚他。
到了20世纪70年代，人们开始感觉到体育文化及学校的体育课程有某种程度的转向。一些不会使不善运动者受罪嫌恶的运动形式开始一点点地削弱团体竞技运动的主导地位。不过到了今天，对抗性竞技运动又将重获抬头机会。（英国）政府正打算终结对“校园体育合作”项目高达一亿六千两百万英镑的资金拨款。该项目旨在促进体育运动的发展及体育课程开设方面的校际合作，也鼓励校际竞赛。
反对者表示，这将使学校财政预算的资金都用在填补其他短缺上而非用在体育课程上，但政府关注的则是其为学校打造的奥林匹克式竞赛机制的计划。不过，体育课的重要性则无人质疑。成年人也许会凄惨兮兮地回忆起那些被迫穿着小短裤锻炼或者在操场上罚跑圈的经历，但却极少有人会否认运动所带来的长期益处。“养成定期锻炼身体的习惯能让你日后控制好体重。”运动医学顾问安迪·富兰克林—米勒博士如是说。他所服务的机构——英国体育与运动医学协会——呼吁在体育课程中加入注重健康的内容。
但这不仅仅与肥胖问题有关，富兰克林—米勒博士说。养成运动的习惯有助于降低生活中受伤的几率。即使是像提高平衡力这样的基础训练对于成长中的儿童来说也极其重要。教育顾问、《有毒的童年》的作者苏·帕尔玛就见过一些孩子在进小学时连做最基本的动作都有困难。“他们几乎没有什么动作能力，体力也很差。由于童年几乎都是坐在屏幕前度过的，整个人软趴趴的。”
体育老师肩上的责任又加重了一份。他们得让体育课变得生动有趣。你可以强迫孩子去学习文化课，但像《小孩与鹰》中所呈现的那种早期体育教育体验只会让一些人在往后的生活中对体育运动敬而远之。
喜剧演员约翰·欧法雷尔就很记得自己读男校时那些不堪回首的一幕幕。“我们学校没有开设足球课，我只能被迫选择橄榄球课。我当时又矮小又瘦弱……经常是那个湿漉漉、沾满泥土的球被扔过来，然后所有人都跳着朝我头顶压过来。”欧法雷尔的解决方式是快速地把球传出去，即使是传给对方球员也无所谓。他后来又尝试了篮球，但作为一个发育晚的人，他不喜欢那种赤膊上阵有“肌肤之亲”的对抗运动。 “我尝试用一种不用露出那光秃秃、尚未长出腋毛的腋窝的方式去投球。老师就会说：‘投篮，欧法雷尔。投……不，手臂要抬起来。’”欧法雷尔开始冒充起妈妈写病假条，不久还俨然成了一个“小作坊”——替其他男孩子提供同样的服务。
《101个舞蹈点子》的作者罗杰·赫恩曾经担任过班主任，他再度走进校园是为了推广舞蹈。他说，孩子们会因为一些不好的经历而放弃体育运动，正如他以前被一个对橄榄球无限狂热而且要求严苛的体育老师吓到一样。“我从此再也没玩过橄榄球，在那个老师带领下训练的那段经历实在太恐怖了。我甚至都不会观看橄榄球赛。那段经历带来的负面影响相当大。”
现代的体育课就旨在防止以上的情形再度发生。近年来，各具特色的选择不断涌现。最近一项政府调查结果表明，37%的学校开展了拉拉队课程。五分之一的学校为孩子提供瑜伽课程。诸如拳击这样的个人体育运动项目也呈上升趋势，但是传统的团队项目，如橄榄球、曲棍球、篮球等则在走下坡路。
《小学体育课之游戏、想法与活动》的作者威廉·阿兰兼任多所学校的体育教师，他会尽一切可能调动起孩子们的热情。街舞、迷你高尔夫和美式足球（或称美式橄榄球）是他经常教授的活动项目。“如今，体育课是让学生走出校外的一扇门。”阿兰先生说。
但老一辈的体育教师们则依旧记得在校园里的那些美好时光。退休教师雷·特文提曼教了四十多年体育课，一直醉心于培养年轻运动员，直到去年才正式退休。20世纪60年代他最开始任教于利物浦一家学校，那里开设的项目一应俱全，足球、橄榄球、越野跑、网球、田径、排球，等等。“那（家学校）实在太棒了，当然，也有其他很多不错的学校。”他说。
但到了20世纪80年代，关于体育课教学的规定越来越多，有了全国性的教学大纲，那意味着很多时候得照章办事。“一项运动有六周的教学规划时间。我不认为有谁能在六周内准确地掌握一项运动。”特文提曼表示。教师们的心态也愈发小心谨慎了。“我喜欢看到孩子们全情投入。我想今时今日，如果外面下雨或刮风的话，他们是不会到室外去活动的。”他说。他的同事克里斯·斯普劳特如今也退休了，提起现在那以健康和安全为重的体育文化所带来的诸多强加限制，他表示失望。与以前简简单单就可以带学生在校园外跑上一圈相比，如今还必须填上选项细致繁多的表格才行。
无论是老师还是学生，大概都希望能够更自由一点。“有的孩子喜欢正规系统的运动项目，但对于那些不喜欢的孩子，我们则必须想出一些新方法来鼓励他们动起来。”《不是威胁：冒着反社会的风险成长》一书的作者蒂姆·吉尔这样说。“那就意味着我们应该加入更多乐趣，更多选择，或许还有一点点冒险性。”
无论如何，希望像粗暴的萨格登先生那样的人不复存在。随着政府缩减对原定学校体育项目的财政支出，体育课教学往竞赛性方向转变的问题也被提出来讨论。但对于什么才是体育课教学的核心，看来还将有一场激烈的争论。