As early as in 1912 V.Ye. Ignat’ev stated in his work “Physical education”:

“…We are to note that many aspects of modern life have a highly detrimental effect on physical development … Our pupils’ studies should be accompanied by their physical training in schools.” In this work, as well as in the following ones, he particularly emphasized that the problem is impossible to solve without the active involvement of state structures.

In particular, the scientist noted that the “concept of physical health is a common public concern,” and that “people’s physical revival is a complex problem which requires not days or months, but many years, and only systematic work can yield success – healthy people with healthy posterity, inspired by an ardent love to their motherland…”

3. Practically total lack of specialized institutions for training highly skilled medical and pedagogical specialists in the sphere of physical culture, and particularly in remedial gymnastics; as a consequence, the impossibility to provide appropriate work on physical education and remedial gymnastics at schools, higher schools and in industries.

4. The state of public health organization and medical science.

In the twenties of the last century some domestic and foreign experts noted certain problems both in the organization of public medical care and in the state of medical science, which often did not meet the practical requirements of that time. For instance, B.Ya. Shimshelevich et al., when considering “the crisis in modern medicine” and the effect of environment and everyday life on the morbidity rate, concluded the application of remedial gymnastics to be most “natural” therapy.

Doctor B.Ya. Shimshelevich in the first chapter of “Gymnastics as a remedial method” of the textbook “Remedial gymnastics” noted:

“The mere fact that the world’s most famous authors on the pages of “Economical and rational remedy” definitely supported the application of physical culture for therapeutic purposes shows the time came to subject this problem to much wider studies at clinics.”

5. Understanding and recognizing the role of the use of physical culture and remedial gymnastics in practice in solving the problems of health care, physical development and education.

The knowledge on the remedial, medicinal and educational effects of remedial gymnastics, accumulated during its formation and development, acted as a base for forming a new and efficient system of remedial gymnastics as a medico-pedagogical discipline.

Since 1918 the state authorities have accomplished several actions aimed at the formation of a full-fledged and efficient system of physical training and education. The problem of the popularization of physical culture, and remedial gymnastics in particular, played a key role in the people’s health improvement and development, as well as in disease prevention and treatment. A definite goal was set: to form a rigorous and self-contained remedial gymnastics system comprising scientific and organizational, methodic, methodological and medico-pedagogical structures, which will be a part of general physical culture and health care.

The government regulations dated May 13, 1921, “On protection of children’s and adolescents’ health” and “On holiday centers”, were important for the formation of the complex system of remedial gymnastics. The latter regulation particularly determined the organization of health recreation of working people in sanatoria, holiday centers and resorts, using natural resources and physical culture methods for health recovery.

One of the first steps was the creation of physical education system at schools. As it was pointed out in the Declaration of the unified labor school published in December 1918, school should develop not only intellectual, but also physical abilities of children. Thus, from the first days of its existence the Soviet school paid much attention to children’s physical education.

Based on the previous domestic and European experience it was clear that myopia, spinal curvature, flat chest and many other anomalies of development, as well as so-called “school” diseases, were widespread among pupils, causing great concern for their future health.

The formation of physical culture as a comprehensive school subject after 1917 was an integral part of the revolution in the sphere of culture and education. In 1919 the content of physical culture classes for children and adolescents was worked out by Vsevobuch. These materials underlied the sample programs prepared by the provincial departments of education.

Besides, scientific centers were needed. Vsevobuch, Main military school of physical education, Institute of physical culture in Moscow, and P.F. Lesgaft’s Institute of physical education in Leningrad were such centers.

A number of state authorities’ documents regulating the work in the sphere of physical culture, and particularly remedial gymnastics, were published in that period of time.

The Central Executive Committee decree “On high and local councils on physical culture of working people of the RSFSR” (June 27, 1923) defined the goals of these organizations. Special attention was paid to “development of general fundamentals of activity of various institutions on physical education and development; approval of programs, provisions, regulations and instructions determining both content and forms of physical development and health improvement of working people.”

The resolution of the Central Committee of RCP (b) “On the goals of the party in sphere of physical culture” (1925) was of great importance. It was crucial for laying the foundation of the Soviet system of physical education, and determined the main components of this system: goal, objectives, basics, concepts and means. The importance of the educational and health-improving functions of physical culture was emphasized. It was indicated that “physical culture should be considered not only from the viewpoint of physical education and health improvement, but also as one of the means of public education.”

The objective of “training of specialists in physical education of young people” was highlighted in the decree of the Central Committee of VKP (b) “On teachers training for pedagogical educational institutions” (October 8, 1927).

The resolution of the Council of People’s Commissars of the RSFSR (July 19, 1929) on the implementation of physical education as a compulsory subject in the educational programs of all schools was of great importance; the People’s Commissariat of Education of RSFSR was charged to “develop and pass to the local institutions curricula and educational programs of teaching the above subject in all types of schools.” A special attention was paid to pedagogical and medical higher schools and technical schools, since there “physical culture is a subject needed for the future professional activity of the graduates.” In medical and pedagogical higher and technical schools, due to broader objectives accomplished by physical culture there, the theoretical program contained additional courses of theory, methodology, organization and history of physical culture, as well as remedial gymnastics and medico-pedagogical control.

Resolution of the Presidium of the USSR Central Executive Committee (April 3, 1930) on the founding All-Union Council of physical culture at the USSR Central Executive Committee this council was entrusted with the management of research and educational activities in the sphere of physical culture at state structures and public organizations, and formation of new scientific and educational institutions specialized in physical culture. In addition, the People’s commissariats for education and health were assigned the following tasks by this resolution: a) to charge the people’s commissariat of education with providing obligatory physical education of all young students, appropriate training of teachers and scientific and pedagogical study on the methods of physical culture; b) to charge the people’s commissariat of health with organization and control of all activities regarding physical culture, formation and research of physical culture as a social, hygienic, remedial, and eugenic factor in the system of various health institutions, and appropriate training and retraining of doctors and other medical personnel.

The main state acts in the sphere of remedial gymnastics included also the resolution of the Board of the People’s Commissariat for Health (July 6, 1931) on the establishment of independent medical and physical culture departments for training of doctors specializing in physical culture, in the frames of the system of higher medical education. Among the requirements to the doctors specializing in physical culture were pedagogical knowledge and skills, as well as appropriate teaching skills in medical and physical culture educational institutions.

According to the state policy in the sphere of physical culture, the main provisions of the new concept of the system of remedial gymnastics started to be developed from the first days of the Soviet power. The development of the speciality “remedial gymnastics” was stipulated by the implementation of the common health development concept (that included the above specialty as a part) aimed at guaranteed quality and affordable health care for people, along with disease prevention and health protection. Besides, the state concept of formation and development of the system of remedial gymnastics concerned large-scale involvement of people into physical exercises and popularization of healthy way of life.

According to the developed concept, remedial gymnastics was to be included in the secondary and higher school programs of physical education; remedial gymnastics was planned to be applied at resorts for health improvement, and in the industry as a measure for injury prevention. As a medicinal method remedial gymnastics was widely used for treatment of various diseases at clinics, hospitals and other medical institutions.

Conclusions. The first steps towards the involvement of state structures into the sphere of physical culture and remedial gymnastics were made in Russia in the first half of the XIX century.

In the XIX – early XX some attempts were made to introduce physical culture, physical education and remedial gymnastics as health-improving and educational means in educational institutions.

By the end of the XIX century first educational institutions for training specialists in physical culture appeared were established in Russia. At the same time it should be noted that remedial gymnastics still was not an educational and pedagogical subject at that time.

As a result, a growing number of statesmen, doctors and teachers got confidence in the fact that physical culture can be an efficient method in the spheres of public health and education only with government assistance, in the presence of organized structure, and first of all in case of including physical education classes into the range of educational subjects.

The issues of physical education and remedial gymnastics have become an important component of the state policy from the very moment of establishment of the Soviet system of physical culture.

The regulations and resolutions adopted at the state level determined the main tasks and directions of the development of the medico-pedagogical system of remedial gymnastics.

For the first time all elements of this system (educational institutions, staff training, research works, practical implementation, medico-pedagogical control, etc.) were united together, thereby providing high efficiency of the system.

References

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