Olympic Ideals Research Articles

Physical activity among young people in the context of lifestyle

The promotion of a healthy lifestyle is the main goal of physical education in many countries. However, very little is known about the relationship between different life styles and physical activity patterns among young people. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between lifestyle and physical activity among 12- and 15-year-old boys and girls in Belgium and Finland. The data came from an extensive comparative study, ‘Sporting Lifestyle, Motor Performance and Olympic Ideals of European Youth’. The subjects in this study were 1439 Belgian and 789 Finnish adoles cents. Using factor and cluster analyses, five ways of spending leisure time repre senting different lifestyles were formulated. Additional descriptors of lifestyle were attitude toward school and Physical Education (PE), the importance of being good academically and in sport, perceived competence, and goal orientation. The results showed that there were significant differences in physical activity between the life style groups and that high physical activity was related to more than one lifestyle group. Those who were only interested in computer games and TV-watching were the most inactive, although many computer game players were also physically active. Perceived physical competence and task orientation were positively related to a phys ically active lifestyle. It was concluded that if the aim of physical education is to enhance an active lifestyle, then a variety of characteristics should be taken into account in teaching.

TWO CERAMIC PIECES FROM THE ASIAN ART MUSEUM OF SAN FRANCISCO

lections lie firmly in the nineteenth century, but collectors have continued their activities, with many new names added to their ranks, throughout the twentieth century. One collector who has not been acknowledged, probably because he is usually associated with East and South Asian art, is Avery Brundage (1887-1975). The collection that he and his wife, Elizabeth, donated in 1960 to the city of San Francisco forms the backbone of the Asian Art Museum holdings. Avery Brundage was perhaps best known for his role in the Olympic Games movement and as president of the International Olympic Committee from 1952 through 1972. His extensive travels in pursuit of his Olympic ideals gave him a unique opportunity to visit many Asian countries. The Brundage collection numbers some eight thousand pieces, five hundred of which are West Asian works of art, including prehistoric Iranian ceramics, Luristan bronzes, and an excellent representative corpus of Islamic wares (some 320 artifacts). However, in true museum tradition, there are many more pieces in the reserves than on display. Sadly, there is no supportive correspondence or personal record indicating why Brundage purchased these objects, or if he had any idea of their provenance, if indeed he cared. But it is evident that he had a good eye for the unusual and the interesting. Two ceramic pieces are of particular interest: a polychrome, early Abbasid luster bowl, accession number B60 P478 (fig. 1), and an underglaze-painted blue, black, and white dish, B60 P1962 (fig. 2)-the luster bowl because it is unique, and the underglaze-painted dish because it is an excellent example of its type, and its provenance, whether Syrian Mamluk or Iranian, is open to question. Most Islamic collections have samples of these wares, but little progress has been made in researching those of Iranian origin since Gerald Reitlinger's seminal article was published in 1938.2 The Mamluk wares have received more attention, but no definitive conclusions have been drawn to differentiate one ware from

Physical Education as Olympic Education

Introduction In a recent paper (Parry, 1998, p. 64), I argued that the justification of PE activities lies in their capacity to facilitate the development of certain human excellences of a valued kind. Of course, the problem now lies in specifying those ‘human excellences of a valued kind’, and (for anyone) this task leads us into the area of philosophical anthropology. I suggested that the way forward for Physical Education lies in the philosophical anthropology (and the ethical ideals) of Olympism, which provide a specification of a variety of human values and excellences which: •have been attractive to human groups over an impressive span of time and space •have contributed massively to our historically developed conceptions of ourselves •have helped to develop a range of artistic and cultural conceptions that have defined Western culture. •have produced a range of physical activities that have been found universally satisfying and challenging. Although physical activities are widely considered to be pleasurable, their likelihood of gaining wide acceptance lies rather in their intrinsic value, which transcends the simply hedonic or relative good. Their ability to furnish us with pleasurable experiences depends upon our prior recognition in them of opportunities for the development and expression of valued human excellences. They are widely considered to be such opportunities for the expression of valued human excellences because, even when as local instantiations, their object is to challenge our common human propensities and abilities. I claimed that Olympic ideals may be seen not merely as inert ‘ideals’, but living ideas which have the power to remake our notions of sport in education, seeing sport not as mere physical activity but as the cultural and developmental activity of an aspiring, achieving, well-balanced, educated and ethical individual. This paper seeks to make good that claim by trying to develop a case for Physical Education as Olympic Education. I begin by setting out various accounts and conceptions of the Olympic Idea; then I suggest a unifying and organising account of the philosophical anthropology of Olympism; and this is followed by the practical application of that account in two examples of current ethical issues. Finally, I seek to present an account of Physical Education as Olympic Education.