"Olympism" revisited as context for global education: Implications for physical education

The modem Olympic Games, which in their current form originated in the 1890 s as an educational reform movement, have become a "profound and deeply emb edded component of our global culture" (Segrave gr Chu, 1996a, p. 3). Chall enges, paradoxes, and future possibilities of a revisioned Olympic educatio n are explored in this article. The context for these reflections is an Oly mpic curriculum project based in Athens, Greece and focussed on the develop ment and implementation of an international teacher's resource book for ele mentary schools. In this particular project, negotiated through the complex ities of contemporary curriculum theory, Olympic Eurocentric universalist v alues, and cross-cultural diversity, a great deal was learned about whether the transnational phenomenon of the Olympic movement is an appropriate con text for helping teachers throughout the world address global educational p riorities. The preliminary conclusions have significant implications for ph ysical education.