Physical education teacher

Comprehensive schools, general upper secondary schools, vocational institutions, sports institutes, sports organisations, sports clubs, municipalities and sports services companies. Masters of Sport Sciences also work in non-teaching positions.

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Physical education (PE) teachers must have a broad knowledge of different sports and the ability to teach and guide pupils in them. The aim of physical education is to provide tools for adopting a physically active lifestyle. PE teachers must have a good command of pedagogy and teacher ethics, self-knowledge skills as well as the ability to apply teaching methods according to the skill level of the group and the individual.

PE teachers must also have interaction skills. Good interaction between the teacher and the pupils is an important prerequisite for learning and awakening interest in physical activity.

The profession requires organisational skills, as teachers are responsible for planning their lessons. The work is demanding and comes with responsibilities. The size of the groups, noise related to physical activity and rapidly varying indoor or outdoor conditions require patience from the teacher.

The profession requires first aid skills. PE teachers are also often responsible for teaching health education.

Teachers who teach physical education as their main subject are required to have a Master’s degree in physical education with a major in sport pedagogy.

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The qualification requirements for teachers have been defined in the Decree on qualification requirements for teaching staff (986/1998).

The data is based on the median income, meaning the amount of salary which is the middle of the salary amounts arranged in order of magnitude.

Source: Statistics Finland's structural statistics on wages and salaries