Working conditions of physical education teachers in European higher education institutions

• Published in: Physical Activity Review (Czs̨tochowa) 2022, Vol.10 (2), p.111-126
• Main Authors: Podstawski, Robert, Żurawik, Marta, Borysławski, Krzysztof, Omelan, Aneta Anna, Tsos, Anatolii
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 2300-5076; 2300-5076
• DOI: 10.16926/par.2022.10.26

Aim: One of the problems of modern higher education is the so-called "New core curricula", which oblige PE teachers to make many changes in the way they work. PE teachers face several restrictions to provide PE programs that improve students' physical fitness, cognitive development, and overall health. The research aimed to investigate the working conditions of university PE teachers in selected European tertiary institutions. Materials and Methods: The quantitative research employed purposive sampling. Five academics volunteered to collect information on 66 European tertiary institutions located in Poland, Slovakia, Serbia, Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovenia, Turkey, Spain, Montenegro, Croatia, Bosnia & Hercegovina, Finland and Kosovo. Quantitative data were collected using questionnaires with a set of questions concerning characteristics of tertiary institutions and various aspects of working conditions of university PE teachers. Results: Two thirds of the university PE teachers held master's degree in PE since in over 42% of surveyed institutions, a master's degree in physical education was required to conduct PE classes. The majority of PE teachers (84.4%) were employed full-time, and on average worked 38.6 days in an academic year. Significantly more PE teachers with masters and doctoral degrees (p = 0.012) were employed full-time, or fixed term in public, middle size HEIs (p