Content area
Purpose of the study. The major purpose of this study was to identify and classify objectives for the teaching of physical education in secondary schools of the United States during the period 1970–1992. Objectives were identified by statements in articles from selected professional periodicals.
Procedure. The 1970–1992 period was divided into two subperiods on the basis of major historical events. Selected professional periodicals were searched for statements of objectives of secondary school physical education teaching. Statements were catalogued into Knowledge, Process, Attitude and Interest, or Cultural Awareness categories, and classified within and across two subperiods according to frequency of occurrence, category, authorship, and year.
Findings. The major findings in the investigation included the following: (1) Authors in Higher Education produced the most articles, both research-oriented and non-research oriented, and the most statements in each subperiod. Miscellaneous authors produced the least number of statements. (2) Statements in the Knowledge category were most frequent in the two subperiods. (3) The “most important” objectives for secondary school physical education teaching were Major facts, principles and fundamentals (from the Knowledge category), and Processes, skills, and techniques (from the Process category). (4) The ranking of “most important” objectives in research-oriented articles generally agreed with the ranking of articles as a whole.
Conclusions. Based on the findings, the following conclusions were made: (1) The objectives for teaching secondary school physical education were influenced by historical events, especially the re-organization of groups within the profession, and the publication of A Nation at Risk: The Imperative for Educational Reform. (2) Authors in Higher Education wrote more articles about the objectives for the teaching of Physical Education than those in other categories. This was probably a reflection of the “publish or perish” environment in many colleges and universities. (3) The most important objectives for secondary school physical education teaching were: Major facts, principles and fundamentals; and Processes, skills, and techniques. (4) There was an increase in the number of research-oriented articles from the first subperiod to the second subperiod.