Education, Training, and Library · Holland code SAE

Self-Enrichment Teachers

Teach or instruct individuals or groups for the primary purpose of self-enrichment or recreation, rather than for an occupational objective, educational attainment, competition, or fitness.

Also called: Dance Instructor, Instructor, Martial Arts Instructor, Teacher, Art Teacher, Dance Teacher, Driving Instructor, Flight Instructor.

O*NET 25-3021.00

At a glance

US median annual pay: $46,800; Middle half earn $36,380 to $63,210. BLS OEWS, May 2025.
Most common education: Master's Degree; 35% of workers surveyed by O*NET report this level.
Preparation needed: Job Zone 3 of 5; Medium preparation. Zone 1 is little or none; zone 5 is graduate-level.

What the work involves

The tasks workers in this occupation rate as most important, from the O*NET survey.

Instruct students individually and in groups, using various teaching methods, such as lectures, discussions, and demonstrations.
Adapt teaching methods and instructional materials to meet students' varying needs and interests.
Prepare students for further development by encouraging them to explore learning opportunities and to persevere with challenging tasks.
Observe students to determine qualifications, limitations, abilities, interests, and other individual characteristics.
Maintain accurate and complete student records as required by administrative policy.
Monitor students' performance to make suggestions for improvement and to ensure that they satisfy course standards, training requirements, and objectives.
Prepare and administer written, oral, and performance tests, and issue grades in accordance with performance.
Establish clear objectives for all lessons, units, and projects and communicate those objectives to students.

Skills and knowledge it leans on

Skills

Speaking3.6 / 5
Active Listening3.4 / 5
Learning Strategies3.4 / 5
Reading Comprehension3.1 / 5
Critical Thinking3.1 / 5
Active Learning3.1 / 5

Knowledge areas

Education and Training4.3 / 5
Customer and Personal Service3.5 / 5
English Language3.3 / 5
Sociology and Anthropology2.5 / 5
Computers and Electronics2.5 / 5
Psychology2.5 / 5

Importance ratings on O*NET’s 1 to 5 scale. Higher means the occupation depends on it more.

Who tends to enjoy it

How strongly this occupation draws on each of the six Holland interest types, which is the same profile the career interests test compares you against.

Realistic25
Investigative33
Artistic53
Social100
Enterprising37
Conventional35

The same work abroad

Other countries classify jobs differently, so these are the closest matches through the international ISCO-08 standard, not exact equivalents.

European occupation titles (ESCO)

social pedagogue · DE Sozialpädagoge/Sozialpädagogin · FR éducateur social/éducatrice sociale
life coach · DE Lebensberater/Lebensberaterin · FR conseiller en développement personnel/conseillère en développement personnel
activity leader · DE Animateur/Animateurin · FR animateur d’accueil de loisirs en centre de loisirs/animatrice d’accueil de loisirs en centre de loisirs
assistant outdoor animator · DE Betreuer für Outdoor-Aktivitäten/Betreuerin für Outdoor-Aktivitäten · FR assistant animateur technicien - loisirs de pleine nature/assistante animatrice technicienne - loisirs de pleine nature
outdoor activities instructor · DE Instruktor für Outdoor-Aktivitäten/Instruktorin für Outdoor-Aktivitäten · FR moniteur d’activités de plein air/monitrice d’activités de plein air
specialised outdoor animator · DE Trainer für besondere Outdoor-Aktivitäten/Trainerin für besondere Outdoor-Aktivitäten · FR animateur spécialisé - activités de plein air/animatrice spécialisée - activités de plein air

Closest UK occupation groups (SOC 2020)

Housing officers (3223)57,900 employed
Social workers (2461)139,800 employed
Probation officers (2462)11,900 employed

Employment is the UK Annual Population Survey for April 2025 to March 2026, all workers in the group, which can be broader than this one occupation.

Pay across Europe, for the whole group

Median annual earnings of all employees in “Technicians and associate professionals”. This is the broad ISCO group this occupation falls in, not the occupation itself, so treat it as context for the wage level, not as a salary for this job.

Median annual earnings, Technicians and associate professionals, by country
Country	Median pay
Belgium	€50,992
Austria	€46,986
Germany	€44,473
Netherlands	€42,448
Ireland	€41,613
Sweden	€41,155
Italy	€34,882
France	€34,816
Spain	€29,757
Portugal	€18,080
Poland	€12,108

Eurostat Structure of Earnings Survey, businesses with ten or more employees outside public administration, in euro and not adjusted for the cost of living. Reference years differ between sources: the US, Japan and Europe figures on this page come from different survey years, so compare them as rough levels, not to the euro or yen.

Exposure to AI

This occupation sits in the middle third of the 774 occupations scored, with an exposure score of +0.53. The scores are standardized across those occupations, so 0 is the average and a score of 1 is about one standard deviation above it.

Our note on reading it: the dataset links AI applications to the abilities that occupations require, so the score reflects overlap between the two. It is a comparison between occupations, not a forecast about jobs. It does not say whether exposure means tasks are replaced or workers get more done with the tools, and it says little about one employer or one role.

Source: Felten, E., Raj, M., & Seamans, R. (2021). Occupational, industry, and geographic exposure to artificial intelligence: A novel dataset and its potential uses. Strategic Management Journal, 42(12), 2195-2217. Matched to this page by 6-digit SOC code (25-3021).

Is it a fit for you?

Interest is one input, alongside ability, pay and what is hiring near you. The career interests test takes about thirteen minutes and ranks occupations by how closely their profile matches yours.

Take the career interests test