Towards a bourgeois manhood: Nordic views and visions of physical education for boys, 1860-1930
Meinander, H.
International Journal of the History of Sport 9(3): 337-355
1992
ISSN/ISBN: 0952-3367 DOI: 10.1080/09523369208713799Document Number: 554044
Physical education became an institutionalized part of Nordic secondary education for boys during the second half of the last century (Nordic countries are Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden and Iceland). Its introduction was part of the transformation of the Nordic educational system and society in general. The transformation was by no means uniform in the different Nordic countries. Nevertheless it is asserted here that the bourgeois cultures in question were in many respects one culture with distinctive north European features. This culture is the framework for the discussion. Nordic secondary education between 1860-1930 was essentially an institution for the upper and middle classes and the schools played an important role in the reproduction of bourgeois culture. Reproduction was multi-dimensional: used and taught language, teaching the values and world-view of the bourgeois culture, and the discipline of the body. The role of physical education in preparing Nordic youth for a bourgeois manhood through character building and health promotion is discussed. It was not so much the need for discipline, character and health as such that inspired the Nordic educationalists to promote various forms of physical exercises for secondary school pupils, but above all the belief that these exercises prepared this exclusive youth for its bourgeois manhood and its future obligations as honourable citizens.