The Present Conditions and Problems of Japanese Physical Education for Infants (School Education)

Quite some time ago it was said that the athletic capabilities of children and their physical strength have fallen. Because more land is used for residential purposes leaving less and less open fields the opportunities for playing outside have decreased. This has led inevitably to more time being spent indoors with television and video games. Hence it is difficult for young people to develop an athletic ability that matches their age. Ideally athletic ability should start when they are infants and increase as they approach adulthood. However, with the changes in the social environment and lifestyles this has not been possible. Therefore a study on how to develop an environment in which young people can maintain an athletic ability that matches their age is a priority nowadays. In this article I look at the present conditions and problems of Japanese infant physical education. This paper consists of three chapters and explores the present conditions and problems of the physical education for infants. The first chapter discusses the meanings of physical education for infants and the status quo of it, featuring the infants' developmental phases. Chapter 2 examines the problems of physical education for infants and the relations between the theory of competition, personal limits and training methods. It also looks at human relationships in the course of learning physical exercises. The final chapter considers the content and environmental design of the ideal physical education for infants and seeks what we should aim for.7KJ00004435354学校教育School Educationdepartmental bulletin pape