Working conditions of physical education teachers in European higher education institutions

Abstract

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 <0.001). In HEIs in cities with less than 500,000 residents, PE teachers were more often encouraged for participation in CPD (p = 0.049). Significantly more public HEIs fully or partially covered the costs of CPD or conferences (p <0.001), whereas in non-public or small HEIs significantly more PE teachers had to finance the costs of CPD. Moreover, significantly more (p =0.037) universities implemented specific PE teachers’ evaluation criteria with a personal record of their achievements. Conclusion: There is a pressing need to improve qualifications of university PE teachers, as many European HEIs do not support PE teachers in CPD. Furthermore, lack of CPD opportunities, low salaries and lack of career promotion perspectives combined with lower psychological resilience, may result in professional burnout syndrome.