Development of School Physical Education in Ishikawa Prefecture in Meiji Era (X) : Elementary School Excursions (1)

Abstract

As a page of historical development of school physical education in Ishikawa Prefecture during the Meiji period, the author studied elementary school excursions carried out from the 19th to 22nd years of Meiji. The new education policy enforced in the latter half of the 10's of Meiji brought some changes to the principle of elementary school excursion. Features of the excursion were : 1. outing 2. exercising gymnasitics/games 3. open-air class 4. visiting various places for study. The excursion usually had one or more of these features, with adding march-training, to train the pupils both mentally and physically. Unlike today, each excursion was basically same, though they seemed to have different features. In this period they were expected to have an educational significance.