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School Activities: Specific Activities

school theatricals

Figure 1.--One popular school activity is theatricals. Often individual classess in primary schools put on variety od skits and performances. Many schools also sponsor more elaborate school plays. This boy in an all boys' school posed for his part in "Oklahoma".

There are two tyoes of school activities. First there were was the curriculum which was primarily, but not completely academic in character. The other type of activities were extr-curricular activities. The primary activity at school, of course, is classroom instruction. Even this, however, varies widely. This varied according to age group as approches varied, chronologically as teaching trends vary, by country. subject matter, and other factors. While it is the classroom that is the center of any school, a lot of activities occur at school beyond classroom instruction. One popular activity in the 19th century was drill which was part of the school program. There were also many extra-curricular activities. It is probably in America that extra-curricular activities first becsme pronounced. The most important extra-curricular avtivity is probably sports. We also see a range of other activities even in the early 20th century before extra-curricular activies had become pronounced outside of America. One such activity which used to be imporant were oratorical competitions, both recitations and speeches. This was not only a school activity, but schools were the most common place where oratory was practiced. A good example is an American boy in the 1890s, Roy Chapman Hodgson. Anoither popular activity is school theatricals. We note Norwegigan children involved in a class skit. Another popular activity was chess. Most American high schools had chess clubs. Chess was even more popular in Europe. I'm not sure, however, to what extent it became a school activity.

Curicular Activities

First there were was the curriculum which was primarily, but not completely academic in character. The other type of activities were extr-curricular activities. The primary activity at school, of course, is classroom instruction. Even this, however, varies widely. This varied according to age group as approches varied, chronologically as teaching trends vary, by country. subject matter, and other factors. While it is the classroom that is the center of any school, a lot of activities occur at school beyond classroom instruction. One popular activity in the 19th century was drill. We note English drill which was part of the school program in most countries. It was at first the major part of the physical education program. This gradually declined, but physical education became a part of many school programs. Physical education was primarily focused on athletics and sports, but often included dance. Some schools also had motion and movement programs for the younger children in primary chool.

Strandard Activities

There are a range of activities ar school that are unrelted to the academic program and do not fall into the extra-curricular activity profram. From the children's point of view, the most important are probably recess and school lunch. Other such activities include coming and going to school, drill, homeroom, ideology (often mixed unto the academic program), patriotism, and public health.

Extra-curricular Activities

There were also many extra-curricular activities. It is probably in America that extra-curricular activities first becsme pronounced. The most important extra-curricular avtivity is probably sports. We also see a range of other activities even in the early 20th century before extra-curricular activies had become pronounced outside of America. One such activity which used to be imporant were oratorical competitions, both recitations and speeches. This was not only a school activity, but schools were the most common place where oratory was practiced. A good example is an American boy in the 1890s, Roy Chapman Hodgson. Another popular activity is school theatricals. We note Norwegigan children involved in a class skit. Another popular activity was chess. Most American high schools had chess clubs. Chess was even more popular in Europe. I'm not sure, however, to what extent it became a school activity. We also notice dance as an extra-curricular activity. A good example is a South African school.








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Created: 11:07 PM 12/10/2008
Last updated: 12:27 PM 10/19/2022