Role of Physical Education in Societal Growth

Abstract

Physical Education is an old age concept, considered to be the first form of communication and was used by the primitive men for survival. With the advancement of time physical education has become a full fledge professional and an integral part of education of human beings. In the 21st century physical education contribution towards the society and national building is very significant and praise worth. Physical education uses physical activity, sports and game and exercise as a medium to not only nurture the social values and attributes in the youth but also play an important role in preventing lifestyle disease of 21st century. Physical activity and sports helps in imparting leadership, comradeship and good human values in the children and promotes health and wellness of the citizens. National harmony among the citizens and international peace can be achieved through sports and physical activities. Therefore it can be established that physical education plays a pivotal role in society and nation building. This review provides an overview of the existing literature on school-aged children’s and youth’s (i.e. 6- to 18-year-olds) personal and social development within the context of physical education and sports. A total of 4359 non-duplicate articles were retrieved from six databases. After the title, abstract and full text screening, 88 articles met the inclusion criteria and were included for further analysis. The 88 studies used several study designs, methods and instruments to investigate a variety of concepts related to personal and social development. Concepts were grouped into the following 11 themes: work ethic; control and management; goal-setting; decision-making; problem-solving; responsibility; leadership; cooperation; meeting people and making friends; communication; and prosocial behaviour. The main findings for each of the 11 themes are reported, and limitations and implications are provided to guide researchers and practitioners in their future work.