PhD, Associate Professor V.V. Achkasov¹
PhD, Associate Professor А.V. Aksenova¹
Dr.Sc.Phil. S.B. Kulikov^1
1Tomsk State Pedagogical University, Tomsk

Keywords: physical education, sports, athletes’ mentality, ancient heritage, social priorities, Ancient Greece, Olympic movement.

Background. The matters of logics of the youth sport training process are ranked among the key problems of the modern physical education and sports theory, and we believe that it is the ideals and elements of ancient heritage applicable in the training that may provide an impetus to the relevant studies if the influences and application specifics of these elements in the modern professional education and competitive process are well analysed and understood. We assumed that adapted versions of historical traditions of physical education may be applied to secure vocational progress in the modern youth sport training systems and promote the ancient physical education heritage in modern cultures.

Objective of the study was to find the most efficient ways to apply the ancient physical education heritage in modern junior athletes’ training systems.

Methods and structure of the study. Subject to the questionnaire survey under the study was the group of 72 first-year full-time students of the Physical Education and Sports Department of Tomsk State Pedagogical University in the academic years of 2015 and 2016. The survey data made it possible to check the hypothesis that the potential benefits of the relevant Federal Standard may be realised if special courses on the history of Olympic Games in Ancient Greece and modern Olympic movement are included in the academic curriculum.

Study results and discussion. Having analysed the requirements of the relevant Federal Standard [6], we would classify the professional careers into the following basic categories: educational, design, research and cultural. It was found that a special emphasis on the ancient physical education heritage in the academic Physical Education History discipline facilitates the athletic training and motivation of the sporting students for at least three of the above classes of professional careers: educational, design and cultural.

The study generated, among other findings, the following substantiations for the physical education history being given a place and special priority in the academic curriculum:

1) It helps convey the knowledge of the key stages and regularities of the physical education development process in Russia and abroad;

2) It gives the means to apply in practical teaching activity the knowledge of the key stages and regularities of the physical education development process in Russia and abroad, makes them understandable for the students and learns them to analyse and interpret historical and modern facts;

3) It facilitates the key notions, terms and concepts of physical education and its development stages in Russia and abroad being learnt and analysed by the students.

Our analysis of the academic Physical Education History discipline fundamentals in their connection with the school curriculum [1-5] made it possible to find the ways to address the key moments in the history of physical education to ensure their positive effects on the academic and athletic progress, with the following key subjects being ranked among the most important for the educational process:

1. The key organisations in the modern Russian sport system. Russian Artistic Gymnastics Federation. Russian Olympic Committee. Russian Paralympic Committee. Olympic sports. Origins and history of the Olympic Games and gymnastics. Modern gymnastics disciplines [1].

2. History of physical education and the first competitions. Benefits of physical education for labour and military activity – from ancient to modern physical education and sports; history of the Olympic movement; role of Pierre de Coubertin; ideals and symbols of the Olympic Games; Olympic champions in different sport disciplines [2].

3. History of physical education and the first competitions. National physical education and its specifics in different countries. Physical education and its influence on the labour and military history, national traditions and customs. Physical exercises and their origin in the ancient people’s activities; role of physical fitness in ancient people’s cultures; key reasons for and origins of balls in the ancient cultures; modern games with balls of different shapes; origin of the Olympic Games; mythical labours of Heracles; the first Olympic Games and their role in peacemaking in the ancient world; modern Olympic Games and their connections with the rules and traditions of the ancient Olympics [3].

4. Mythical and legendary origins of the ancient Olympic Games. Historical evidence on the ancient Olympic Game. Pierre de Coubertin and his role in renaissance of the Olympic Games. Mission, objectives, ideals and symbols of the modern Olympic Games; first Olympic champions. Olympic movement in pre-revolutionary Russia; role of A.D. Butovskiy in the national Olympic movement initiation and progress [4].

Special emphasis on the above aspects of the physical education history will help to improve the training process quality in the national youth sports based on the new sporting standards and requirements implemented in the primary and secondary school system. This is a prime condition for the Federal Standard being implemented at every tier of the national education system. In the academic education system, in particular, the physical education history courses will help to build up the following general cultural and professional competences, skills and abilities:

1) Ability to analyse the key stages and regularities of the historical processes for the adequate civic position being formed;

2) Acceptance of the social mission of the future profession with due motivations for the professional career; and

3 Ability to develop and implement the priority cultural and educational projects [6].

The questionnaire survey under the study generated data on the students’ attitudes to the academic Physical Education History (PCH) discipline. As a result we found the most efficient methods to step up productivity of the educational process. The questionnaire survey generated the following key results:

1. Most of the respondents (94.6%) ranked the physical education history among the core academic disciplines albeit they differently rated the practical importance of the discipline. Thus 64.9% of the respondents believed that competency in the physical education history would be helpful in their practical activity. The respondents ranked the perceived benefits of the subject as follows: world outlook expansion (89%); knowledge of the origins of the modern physical education traditions (59.5%); understanding of physical education processes (59.5%); ability to forecast developmental trends in physical education (21.6%).

2. In specifying the most effective competency-building methods, the respondents ranked them as follows: intellectual games (83.8%); educational videos (75.7%); slide-presentations with teacher’s explanatory comments (62%); group discussions of educational videos (51.3%); teacher’s lectures in the traditional (chalk and blackboard) format with questions and answers (48.7%); and teamwork to design relevant projects, ideas and tasks (43.2%).

3. The subjects ranked ideal educational formats as follows: educational videos (13.5%); intellectual games (13.5%); discussions with inducing questions (8.1%); and slide-presentations-assisted sessions (5.4%). Many respondents (24.3%) failed to specify an ideal educational format that may be due to their poor teaching experience.

The study findings may be interpreted as indicative of the need to reasonably apply every of the above methods and train students to apply these methods on their own in their teaching careers; with the relevant fundamental values being realised in competitive practices.

Conclusion. The study data and analyses showed benefits of the physical education history courses introduced in the valid curriculum, with a special emphasis on the Olympic Games in Ancient Greece and the modern Olympic movement. The study findings made it possible to make the following practical recommendations:

First, an equally high priority in the education process must be given both to the historical facts and the practical methods to deliver them to the audience. Second, most beneficial educational methods applicable in the physical education history courses are the following: intellectual games; educational videos; slide-presentations; group discussions and analyses; free questions and answers in the audience; teamwork to design projects and other initiatives; debates and discussions.

The study was sponsored by the Russian Research Foundation Grant #15-18-10002.

References

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6. Sayt Koordinatsionnogo soveta uchebno-metodicheskikh ob'edineniy i nauchno-metodicheskih sovetov vysshey shkoly. Portal Federalnykh gosudarstvennykh obrazovatelnykh standartov vysshego obrazovaniya [Site of the Coordinating Council of educational and methodological associations and scientific and methodological councils of higher education. Portal of Federal State Educational Standards of Higher Education]. Available at: http//: fgosvo.ru/440305 (Accessed22.03.2017).

Corresponding author: swimming_departament@tspu.edu.ru

Abstract

The study presents the empirical data and analysis of some psychological and educational aspects of the youth athletic training process including the academic one. The study shows benefits of the core missions of athletic training process being connected with the physical education history with a special emphasis on the ancient Greece history and the key points of the history of the Olympic movement. It was found that the historical dimension of the modern physical education helps motivate junior athletes for vocational sports and professional careers in the modern sport culture. The study demonstrated that analyses of the base educational standards and curricula in the historical context and questionnaire surveys to profile the students’ attitudes to the history of physical education are beneficial in facilitating progress of both sport educators and active athletes.