August 2, 2002

Physical-Education Professor Proposes New Vision of the Discipline

What is physical education?

That's the question Rosalie Hedlund has spent years trying to answer. She has come to the unorthodox conclusion that physical education really isn't about fitness or athleticism. Instead, she believes physical education is about morality, ethics, interpersonal relationships, and group dynamics.

That may sound a little grandiose for a course, "Nontraditional Team Sports," featuring a game called pickleball. But Ms. Hedlund, a professor of physical