Arts and Cultural Education in Iceland : Professor Anne Bamford

Vignette 5.2.4 Our selection process might be tough
This is an independent institution under contract to the government. The process is very selective. Around one in five
of the valid applications get into a course. There are government quotas. For example, there are only 10 places in
theatre every year. The academy argues “there is not much more talent than that each year”. They further add, “Our
selection process might be tough but 97% of students compete within the 4 years”.
The Arts Academy has cooperation with the 2 universities in Iceland in relation to art history, art theory, business and
marketing. There is no cooperation in relation to education or arts education. The institution is growing its research
culture, but at the moment does not have any research degree students. They contend in relation to arts education
that they focus on discipline methods and hope to produce “terrorists in the school system”.
They acknowledge that there is a growing demand for a broader vision of arts education. In response to what they
perceive as being a need for better quality, they are introducing a Masters programme: “The most urgent thing is
better qualifications for teachers and continuing education. Teachers need better grounding in the art form before
they can teach it. Generally the teachers in the compulsory school have not had enough training in their
discipline…We are developing a Masters level course for leaders and entrepreneurs working in arts and culture. We
need good leaders in the field and best practice models. You might say we want to train the super teachers. We have
a strong desire to strengthen leadership.”
Certain groups seem to be particularly effected by a shortage of suitably qualified teachers.
For example, there was a lack of special education trained music teachers: “There is a serious
lack of teachers trained to teach special education pupils. Most music schools will not accept
these children. We could easily fill at least 150 spaces per year, and that is only in this area.”
Teacher recruitment in rural and isolated areas was also perceived to be particularly difficult:
“Arts and cultural education teachers in Icelandic schools are generally well qualified and
professional. The exception to this is the lack of trained arts teachers in more isolated rural and
regional locations. This is particularly the case for woodcraft and music teachers working within
the compulsory school environment.”
The training of teachers appears to be a contentious issue within Iceland. Most people
interviewed had strong opinions on teacher education and saw the research as an opportunity
to reflect on the current state of teacher education. A similarly open attitude to revision and
review of the current situation was displayed by some of the key providers of teacher education
as the following vignette indicates:
Vignette 5.2.5 This is a contentious area of investigation
This is a contentious area of investigation in Iceland. Compulsory school teachers require an education diploma. This is
currently under revision, but is currently made up of 50% field work and 50% free choice of didactic courses. There is
no compulsory arts and cultural education for compulsory school teachers and comments from teacher education
staff indicate that the majority of early childhood teachers have some compulsory arts education but it appears that
arts and cultural education for the compulsory school teacher would depend on their level of interest and thus
elective chosen.
For example, in early years a typical pattern might include 2 courses in visual arts, 4 units in music and 2 units in both
textile and drama for all students. Conversely, only small number of compulsory school teaching students (generally
less than 10%) choose the arts based electives. For example, only around 8-10 students graduate as trained wood and
metal work teachers despite a shortage of teachers in this field. For example, a school told me “We do not have a
trained woodcraft teacher. We have not been able to get one for two years. We have someone who comes in from
the local community.” Actually, this school is lucky compared to others. “The untrained staff we have all been here for
several years and they are good”
In the major teacher education provider in the country, selection of the arts specialisation is much lower than most
areas (for example, home economics is more popular than the arts). If students choose arts electives or to ‘major’ in
the arts, it is possible that up to 1/3 or even more of their course could be in the arts. Even then, this is all disciplinebased
training with a lack of general education in creative and cultural education and the ways in which arts-based
pedagogies can improve overall school performance.
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