15TH ANNUAL (2017) HAWAII INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON EDUCATION

TITLE: A DAY IN THE LIFE OF WILLIAM PENNY BROOKES, A 19TH CENTURY PIONEER BRITISH EDUCATOR AND INSPIRATION FOR THE MODERN IN 1850

TOPIC AREAS: CROSS-DISCIPLINARY AREAS OF EDUCATION; OTHER AREAS OF EDUCATION

PRESENTATION: Paper Session

DESCRIPTION: An original presentation showcasing the life of Dr. William Penny Brookes, pioneer 19th century British educator, by visually following his routine through still extant buildings and grounds, where he lived, worked, and taught in the small town of Much Wenlock, . He developed reforms in physical education that led to curriculum reform in and to the revival of the Olympic Games.

NAME: Robert B. Kebric

DEPARTMENT: History

AFFILIATION: University of Louisville, Third Street, Louisville, Ky. 40292

Email: [email protected]

ABSTRACT: It is a rare occasion when the career of any significant educator from the mid-nineteenth century can be followed closely. It is even rarer when that individual’s pioneering reforms that demonstrated scientifically the benefits of physical education are currently impacting the revised curriculum for A level Physical Education (16-18 year olds) in his country, in this case Great Britain, and had such impact in his day that they led directly to the modern revival of the Olympic Games. Such a man was Dr. William Penny Brookes, whose shadow still looms large after more than a century and a half, not only over his small town of Much Wenlock, Shropshire, in the English Midlands, but also on the now accepted International Olympic Committee’s belief that Brookes “really was the founder of the Modern Olympic Games”-- a concession made in 1994 by Juan Antonio Samaranch and acknowledged more publicly at the 2012 London Olympics Games. While Brooke’s contributions have been the subject of other studies, especially the groundbreaking volume by David Young, The Modern Olympics: The Struggle for Revival (1996), and my own papers at the 2015 Annual Hawaii International Conference on Arts & Humanities, and the 2012 International Conference on Learning in London following the close of the London Olympic Games, it is the focus of this presentation to visually reconstruct the good doctor’s routine as physician, educator, magistrate, and campaigner to include physical education in the national school curriculum, as he went about his business in Much Wenlock. Not only does his residence still remain ( it is currently up for sale), but also the building in which he began his educational reforms, particularly in regard to the infant study of physical culture, or physical education as it is known today, and the grounds on which he first put his “Olympian Games” into practice. It is not difficult to do this since the town has essentially been transformed today into a tribute to Brookes. In the two times I have visited Much Wenlock since 2012 and used the Archives there for my own studies, I have taken photos of all the major places Brookes frequented during his long and productive life (1809- 1895) with the object of transporting interested persons to the small town where the move toward the modern Olympics began. It is a presentation designed to provide visually the best experience possible without visiting the place. I have been escorted around the picturesque town by Chris Cannon, the Archivist of the Much Wenlock Olympian Society, with whom I correspond on a regular basis, and we will follow in the footsteps of Queen Elizabeth II, Samaranch, former President of the IOC, and other dignitaries and world record holders who have now made Much Wenlock the must place for every enthusiast to visit. The Wenlock Olympian Society continues to hold athletic games every July, and in the summer of 2015, a Japanese delegation showed up unannounced in preparation for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Since that visit, the Tokyo Olympics Organizing Committee has stated, “We have found that the moral, physical and intellectual improvements promoted by Dr. Brookes are still alive today in Much Wenlock. The vision of Tokyo 2020 involves sport, education and culture and we in Japan recognize the importance of the legacy of Brookes and the Wenlock Olympian Society.” Brookes’ original intent to include “every grade of man” in athletics has become Olympic reality. Dr. Brookes and Much Wenlock transcend the bounds of anything ordinary-- for both modern educators and the Olympics.