Arts and Cultural Education in Iceland : Professor Anne Bamford

The curriculum is flexible and schools are encouraged to be proactive. Despite this apparent
freedom, in the schools visited throughout Iceland there appears to be remarkable similarity in
pedagogical practices and the way learning is organised. The most likely explanation for the
similarity is probably the shared teacher education training. Although more fully discussed later
in the report, the general view was that teacher education did not encourage divergence in the
curriculum and tended to promote the status quo, as this comment suggests:
The teachers need to be taught to teach creatively. All teachers need some arts and cultural education. It needs
to be a focus throughout the school system.
New music syllabuses have been introduced over the past few years. They are based on the
classical system. These new music documents were not pilot tested and they have not been
reviewed. Once again, with this new syllabus there appears to be a disjuncture between the
flexible philosophy that underpins the document and the feeling ‘in the field’ that such
documents constrain and dictate teaching and learning choices. While schools argue that the
way they organise things is bound by a number of laws, this is disputed by those responsible for
the syllabus who say, “It is the music schools that impose their own rules and restrictions. There
are no laws that are in effect other than about financial support. The syllabus is published and it
is a guideline and no one is obliged to use it. It is a big misunderstanding in the field.” As can be
seen in Figure 1.5.2 the music curriculum is seen to be quite useful in establishing objectives for
music but of less use for educational content or methods, where less than 50% of respondents
found it either useful or very useful. 10
Figure 1.5.2: How useful is the National Curriculum Guide (music)
Figure 1.5.3 shows the response to the usefulness of the curriculum in the compulsory
school. In this instance, educational objectives was seen to be most useful, while teaching
methods and assessment were considered to be the least useful aspect. Despite this pattern,
there was general acceptance fo the value of curriculum with less than 1% of respondents
feeling that it was ‘useless’.
10 The music syllabus has been in the works for more than 17 years and is not completed yet. The General
Section was published 2000. Eight separate documents have since been published for different instruments (see
). The last syllabus, the one for jazz and rock
music, is pending later this year. Almost all music schools operate according to existing law (nr. 75/1985) on financial
support for music schools. Chapter 1, article 1 of this law states that the law applies only to schools that teach "...
according to an official curriculum published by the Ministry of Education...". Furthermore, as can be seen at the
beginning of the general section (available in English translation through the URL above), the curriculum is quite
extensive as to the operation of music schools. Increasingly, service contracts between municipalities and music
schools mandate that music schools operate according to the official curricula. According to the current survey about
80% of music schools use the service of the Music Schools' Examinations Board and thus, operate according to the
official curriculum.
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