ABSTRACT
Historically, the schooling and education of young people has been far from uniform within countries, let alone across them. Therefore, providing an overarching commentary would not only be incredibly long if it were to be comprehensive, but it may reasonably be argued that it might be quite futile. (The sheer breadth of this point can be appreciated in the second half of this book.) What is apparent, however, is that significant influences upon primary education and upon physical education have served to shape its inclusion and delivery. This chapter first illustrates how different socio-cultural factors such as those surrounding the Second World War can come to influence a subject area. Second there will be some explanation of how physical education has become positioned within wider ideas of education. Next the significance of the secondary sector upon primary physical education will be explored before looking at the contested terrains of the 20th and 21st centuries.
