Publication Date

1950

Subjects

College curriculum, Higher education programs, Physical education teachers, Teacher education programs, Professional training, University curriculum, Canada, United Kingdom, United States

Comments

Information Bulletin / Australian Council for Educational Research ; n.20

Digitised in 2022 from a print copy held by the ACER library

Abstract

This report sets out information gained from a survey of the professional training and service or required programmes of Physical and Health Education in the universities and colleges of Canada, United States of America, and Great Britain. It contains an account of departmental organisation, staffing, course duration, facilities, course content, time allocation and degrees conferred at each institution visited. From this data an attempt has been made to distinguish the common pattern existing in each of these countries and to draw some implications for Australian purposes. It is hoped that the information contained herein will be of value to physical educationists and administrators in Australia concerned with teacher training and the welfare of students. [p.1, ed]

The information was gathered by interview and observation techniques during visits to a selected sample of universities and colleges and by an examination of documents, reports and publications relative to the study. [p.1, ed]

The undergraduate courses in Canada and America are of sufficient length to permit a thorough grounding in Education and. the Biological Sciences. The courses in Great Britain, due largely to their shorter duration, lack depth in these areas of study. Their products are without the academic and scientific background to equip them to critically evaluate programmes and methods. This has resulted in a tendency to accept traditional practices and continue with methods which are out of step with current educational thought. The activity programme in these countries follows somewhat the same lines. It includes games skills, recreative activities, coaching techniques and gymnastic skills. [p.25, ed]

Observation of students teaching practice and visits to schools in these countries led to the impression that the products of Canadian and American courses are often poorly trained in teaching techniques. The survey revealed that where the English and Scottish centres devoted 20% of the period of training to practice teaching, the Canadian and American contras gave only 4.62% of the time [p.25-26, ed]

Place of Publication

Camberwell, Australia

Publisher

Australian Council for Educational Research

Geographic Subject

Canada, United Kingdom, United States

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