Molding the political soul - Atiner

Molding the political soul
                          – or
  why the gym lesson has served as
     an ideological apparatus

                   Foteinos Dimitris
                  dfoteinos@ppp.uoa.gr
               http://scholar.uoa.gr/dfoteinos

       Faculty of Philosophy–Pedagogy–Psychology
                  School of Philosophy

                                                 Athens, 2017-11-20
                                                              Dr. Kesner's Symposium on
                                                    "Physical Education in Greek Primary Schools"

Preliminary note :
   This presentation cannot but be affected by the
    latest developments in both, Greek and
    European, politics and economics
   Under these developments the key question
    arose was concerning the nature of the
    ''political'', the interwoven relations between
    politics and economics and the vested interests
       After all, the key question is about democracy as a
        political system, its potentials, the weak points of its
        institutions, and its abilities to overcome difficulties
        and adversities caused by economy as well

The key question
   Why the physical education in Greece is not
    perceived as an autonomous subject (dealing
    with the body strengthening and the promotion of a
    healthy life), but it had to be related to State's
    major political and ideological agendas ? –
    even when comparing fundamentally different
    contexts, such as
       the post war conservative governments (1950-
        1967),

       the dictatorship rule (1967-1974),

       pre/post-Athens' Olympic Games period (2000-

Structure of presentation
   When the course was initiated
   Under which circumstances the course was
    initiated
   Which are the ideological aspects and when
    they were involved into the subject
   Why these ideological aspects remain and are
    still present today

Ancient Times
                                               Νοῦς ὑγιὴς ἐν σώματι ὑγιεῖ *

        Body and mind were thought as a unique
         condition of existence, an holistic perspective of
         human condition
                       mental enhancement should be accompanied by a
                        healthy body, or in other words, a healthy mind
                        presupposes a healthy body
--------------------------------------------

* a healthy mind in a healthy body

Ancient Times -
               Body and Democracy
   A ''mind'' incorporated in a such a well shaped body
    cannot but be equally sharply and aptly elaborated in
    order to fit in to the body, but mainly to be able to
    control body's sluggishness and idleness, features that
    would potentially cause a voluntarily casting out on
    behalf of citizens (privatized citizens = idiots)
       Healthiness of mind, perceived as such, became
        the benchmark for democracy

Ancient Times -
                   Body and Democracy

   Democracy
       City - citizens - free will - individual rights
            The political identity, as a right for individuals, was just
             claimed through democracy

       The body did engage to democratic features
            guaranteeing the City-State's well being, prosperity and
             persistence

Ancient Times -
                 Body and Democracy
   Sports and physical activity
       part of the daily routine of childhood and adolescent life

   The well formed, healthy and strong body
       the outcome of a well taken care life

   and the well educated mind as well

   the ad hoc ultimate frontier of the City and the
    democracy per se

Ancient Times -
                            Body and Democracy
    Gymnasium - molding the body
            the place where nudity* is exercised in order for the body to be
             better –and unimpeded- exercised

    Agora - cultivating the mind
            place where the citizens were gathering to discuss the public
             matters

    Sports - physical activity interwoven with democracy
     itself
            A strong philosophical and political tradition
-------------------------

Nude = gymno → gymnasium

The Olympic games
   Olympic Games had played a political and an educational role

   the Games (the Olympic, the Delphic Games, or the Nemean and much
    others) were accompanied by religious ceremonies and theatrical
    presentations as well

   The athletes in Olympic Games were the epitome of ancient Greek
    model for the citizen

       physically in the best condition

       mentally capable for a wide range of thoughts and for comprehension
        and discussions over some philosophical issues

       skillful in music or other arts as well

Physical and political education

   Physical education and sports activities were not
    extracted from the political education*
       Body includes ad hoc functions of the City–State
            a crucial element of its viability

-----------------

* political education = the education committed to citizenship
(Polis = City, politis = citizen → politics = about the City)

Form Antiquity to                19 th    Century

   Decline of Roman empire
   Christianity - the common religious all over Europe

   Medieval times - altered the perception of the body
       Body: the mortal, perishable, filthy vessel for the immortal,
        eternal and spotless soul
       The needs for physical education were neglected (banned
        as ''pagan'' tradition the Olympic Games were abolished in
        393 AD)

   In byzantine education, despite the profound
    philosophical education, physical activities were

19th   century
   After the War for Independence (1821) modern
    Greece was established and formed as a free
    and independent State (ruled by the counselors
    of the Bavarian King Otto)
   Primary education formed in 1834

   Secondary education formed in 1836

   Physical education and sports were
    introduced in secondary education's curriculum
    in 1880

19 th    century
   State School for the PE and sports teachers
    established in 1882
       Their education (1882-1897) was lasting only for a
        few weeks (40 days)

       Expanded up to 2 years after the first modern
        Olympic Games (Athens, 1897)

20th   century

   In 1907 the Swedish sport program is adopted
   In 1918 the Sports Academy is established
   In the 1929's educational reformation, Sports
    Academy had been recognized as a higher
    education institution, equal to Teachers' Academy
   In 1982 Sports Academy (as the Teacher's one) was
    upgraded as an autonomous Faculty in Universities

But...
   ... which is the relation connecting

       sports and physical education

                            to

       politics and ideologies

Around         2nd    WW

   In 1939, (fascist Greek government) the Sports
    Academy renamed into ''National Academy of
    Physical Education''
   Α ''nationalized'' curriculum was assigned to
    schools and the ideas of nationalism were
    attached into it
       a nationalistic education, both in curriculum and in
        manners
       ''National Organization of Youth'' – a youngsters fascist
        groups, following the example of ''Hitler's youth'' and
        Mussolini's ''black-shirts''

Fascist parade on a National Day (1938)

The dictatorship rule 1967 – 1974
   PE and sports were constantly referred as ''gymnastics''
       a direct reflect of antiquity's glory

       and as an effort for the legitimation of the military regime
        (guardians of the ''Greek spirit'' and the ''national traditions and
        history'')

   Massive and obligatory school ''gymnastics exhibitions''
    in stadiums accompanied by military marches and
    festivities
       after all, tanks and heavily armed military forces in the streets was
        not an uncommon spectacle of that time

School gymnastics exhibitions (1973)

School gymnastics exhibitions (1974)

Festivities… (military junta, 1967-1974)

Festivities… (military junta, 1967-1974)

Festivities… (military junta, 1967-1974)

Military junta against students, 1973-11-17

From the establishment of the                           3rd

      Democracy (1974-5) to 2000's

   1974: Restoration of democracy
       Ever since: a modern parliamentary democracy in the
        European context

   1975-7: a new educational reform
       But: PE and Sports curriculum didn't alter
       The prior ideological basis of PE curriculum
        obtained into the new period (3rd Democracy)
       The status of the sports teachers was upgraded (due to their
        upgraded education in Universities) and their salary has
        risen as well to meet the teachers' average salary

Since 1980's to the present
                    days
   The PE as a quasi «party time»
       a more freely playing time for pupils than exercising their
        body and educating them into healthy habits

   PE and sports curricula as parts of a broader
    national project (ie the Olympics of Athens,
    2004)
       ''Olympische Bildung'' project (2000-2004)

       ''Kallipateira'' project (2004-2008)

PE and sports curricula:
               results and outcomes
   As for the cultivation of healthy habits:
       Obesity
       Smoking
   As for the knowledge for the «body»
       Still ignorant and unfamiliar
       Abortions
   As for the physical exercise
       Not of importance

PE and sports curricula:
                 results and outcomes
   Resent PE and sports curricula are more based
    in a formal and typical knowledge than be
    orientated towards the actual physical exercise
       Since 2007, pupils have a book in PE course!
           Lack of public schools infrastructure

   PE as a school course is based in «knowledge»
       all the characteristics of (the Greek) school
        knowledge are attributed to it
           Ideologically biased
           Hierarchically classified
           Socially irrelevant

PE and sports curricula:
             results and outcomes
   State has the overall control on the PE
    curriculum
   According to State needs or/and agendas, the
    syllabus, the orientation, the objectives and the
    implementation of PE curriculum are altered to
    meet the broader State's policies
   In several cases PE curriculum serves as a
    strict ideological instrument for government
   Moreover, PE could (and can – it actually did)
    stand even without any physical exercise

   What remains for the present is a sports
    and physical education program, whatever
    its name is,
       operated lately by the overwhelming funding limitations,

       taught by the book

       in a quite limited amount of time,

       under the excessively detailed directions of curriculum
            directions addressed both to teachers and to pupils

A PE textbook
   The most hilarious note is the one that the PE
    curriculum suggests to sport teachers to keep
    the pupils inside class (the regular teaching
    class) during the raining days and ''teach'' them
    traffic behavior, or traffic safety measures –
    through the PE textbook

PE and sports curricula:
               results and outcomes
   Under this light, one could claim that the PE
    curriculum is molding the political soul
   The gym lesson has served more as an
    ideological apparatus than a strict PE course
   This is caused by the overwhelming political
    domination on education
       In the Greek society the political field exceeded all
        other fields of power

   The late educational reforms did result in an
    overwhelmingly strengthening over the control of the
    “boundaries”:
       actually almost all the authorities became (more) centralized,

       a solid ''top-bottom'' directive communication was established, and

       rights based on the individuals' free will have been demolished

Conclusion – further discussion
   The boundaries, for both the classification and framing
    (Bernstein, 1992, 1996), are strengthen when there is
    a strong political agenda to be implemented, or when
    this agenda is functioning as a technology for political
    domination

Conclusion – further discussion
   The image of the ''body'', as it is perceived through
    curriculum regulations at least for the period under
    question, is the image of dispensable body, a body
    that can be manipulated by the dominant political
    agents, in the service not of the State, as it was in
    ancient times, but in service of the major political
    agendas stressed by the political dominant agents

Conclusion – further discussion
   The ''body'' is just a potential voter whose conscience
    has to molded, as an effort to be entrapped into the
    patronage networks, widely spread throughout society
   Or even more so, whose conscience has to be molded
    in order not to question the political order, so the
    political field would seems as legitimate as gets, which
    was after all the main objective

Thank you
for your time and tolerance