The teaching profession is a multifaceted and changing phenomenon, which can be examined through teachers’ subjective experiences and through the descriptions of their work. The changes in society such as globalization and digitalization challenge and expand teachers’ work e.g. required competence and scientific background of their work. This study aims to describe physiotherapy teachers’ and physiotherapy teacher students’ conceptions of change in the teaching profession. Furthermore this study aims to reveal critical aspects that help teachers in expanding their awareness.

This study was conducted as a part of Finnish national Competent Teachers Together! - research project which aims to develop continuous education model for health science and social service teachers. In this study the data was collected through five group interviews. Respondents (n=17) were physiotherapy science teachers from university, physiotherapy teachers from university of applied sciences and physiotherapy teacher students from health sciences. Physiotherapy teachers’ conceptions were examined with qualitative analysis involving application of principles of phenomenographic research.

As a result of this study four hierarchically structured categories of description as a driving force for change were found: student diversity, developing physiotherapy field, transforming society and global trends. The hierarchy was revealed through themes that grouped together critical differences between the categories of description. The first category represents the narrowest and the latest category the widest conception of change in the teaching profession. The analysis produced critical aspects that enable teachers to expand their awareness from lower to higher category: developing professional practices, widening perspectives about teaching, adopting collaborative approach to working and having a forward-looking orientation as a teacher.

The results of this research can be used for supporting physiotherapy science teachers, rehabilitation science teachers and even more broadly health science teacher’s professional development and for developing a model for teachers’ continuous education. In addition, these results bring new insight into understanding teachers’ way of experiencing change in the teaching profession while also helping in finding new methods to widen these conceptions.