The Situations and the Current Trends of Physical Education and Sport Sciences in Finland

Abstract

 In Finland basic education encompasses nine years and caters for all those between 7 and 16 years. All schools follow a national core curriculum, which includes the objectives and core contents of different subjects including physical education. In the Government Programme sport and physical activity are specifically mentioned in key projects involving new learning environments and health and wellbeing. The operational method of the Finnish schools on the Move project, launched in 2010, has already reached more than 90% of all Finnish schools. The method promotes sitting less during lessons and exercising more during break times. The goal is to encourage learning through being active during other classes and break times. The Finnish higher education system consists of universities and universities of applied sciences. The Faculty of Sport and Health Sciences is the only university-level unit for sport and physical exercise education in Finland. The Faculty also features the education branch of health sciences. There are 22 research units in sport sciences in Finland. The major domain focuses of these units are basic and applied biological sciences, medical and health sciences, and social and behavioural sciences.