ORIGINS OF ATHLETICISM GAMES IN THE ENGLISH PUBLIC SCHOOLS, 1800 - 1880 (SPORT, HISTORY)

The purpose of this study was to discover how and why organized games emerged and developed, and how and why games-playing, and thus athleticism, was so readily diffused throughout the English public (private) schools, in the nineteenth century. Explanations were sought as to why a belief in the educational value of games and sports become such a widely held and lasting belief.; Four groups of schools were identified from among the public schools. A sample of three "independent, non-local, fee-paying predominantly boarding schools for the upper and middle classes" were selected from each group.; Previous explanations of this development have stressed either "social control" and the importance of headmasters in establishing policies of compulsion, or the importance of the students themselves in fostering games.; This study emphasizes the fact that lasting educational change is typified by agreement and positive acceptance by all parties involved. Researchers have named this process "mutual adaptation." In the English public schools, governors, parents, headmasters, staff, students and alumni all had an interest in the policies and programs that were adopted at their schools. "Mutual adaptation" offers a more elegant explanation of the interactions between these groups, which led to the lasting development of games as a vital part of these schools' curricula.; Organized games began in the Great public schools. Cricket, rowing and football (rugby and soccer) were organized initially through the ingenuity and enthusiasm of the older boys in this group of schools. These young men then took their love of games to the universities. As graduates, many of them returned to teach in the growing caucus of public schools. Their interest in and enthusiasm for games was embraced by headmasters, parents, staff and alumni, and influenced succeeding generations of students.; Athleticism, (and later "over-athleticism,") was only possible because all interested parties agreed on the values of organized games. They agreed that playing games helped produce upright, honest, Christian, English gentlemen; and this was the primary purpose of a public school education.