Arts and Cultural Education in Iceland : Professor Anne Bamford
Arts and Cultural Education in Iceland : Professor Anne Bamford
Arts and Cultural Education in Iceland : Professor Anne Bamford
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Increas<strong>in</strong>gly, schools are becom<strong>in</strong>g more multi-function community centres <strong>and</strong> may be<br />
designed to also house the music school, cultural centre, library, pre-primary schools <strong>and</strong> other<br />
community services. Schools with the music <strong>and</strong>/or arts schools embedded appeared to be very<br />
successful with higher numbers of pupils attend<strong>in</strong>g the optional arts education <strong>and</strong> greater<br />
flexibility of space, time <strong>and</strong> teach<strong>in</strong>g personnel. Conversely, some teachers – especially from<br />
the Music Schools – were aga<strong>in</strong>st the trend towards embedd<strong>in</strong>g the music school with<strong>in</strong> the<br />
regular school, claim<strong>in</strong>g that this <strong>in</strong>fluenced the special “ethos” <strong>and</strong> “feel” possible <strong>in</strong> a separate<br />
music school facility.<br />
Similarly, while hav<strong>in</strong>g high quality specialist rooms for the arts was generally viewed as<br />
be<strong>in</strong>g a good th<strong>in</strong>g, a number of specialist teachers felt that the arts room isolated them from<br />
other teachers <strong>and</strong> made their work appear to be peripheral to the ma<strong>in</strong> function of the school.<br />
While there were only a few examples of specialist arts teacher work<strong>in</strong>g alongside the other<br />
subject teachers, there was a desire expressed by many arts teachers for their work to be more<br />
<strong>in</strong>tegrated <strong>in</strong>to the general school.<br />
In Icel<strong>and</strong>, the vast majority of parents send their children to the nearest local school. While<br />
<strong>in</strong> Reykjavik <strong>and</strong> other larger towns, some choice may be possible, there appears to be high<br />
levels of satisfaction with – <strong>and</strong> support of – the local school by parents <strong>and</strong> the community.<br />
1.9 Preschools<br />
‣ <strong>Arts</strong> <strong>and</strong> cultural activities are given a high priority <strong>in</strong> preschools<br />
Throughout the country there are a range of preschools <strong>and</strong> childcare centres. These are<br />
highly diverse, but all appear to offer a very high level of care <strong>in</strong> a creative environment. They<br />
make maximum use of their community <strong>and</strong> children are encouraged to learn <strong>in</strong> harmony with<br />
the environment. These centres generally operate a very creative curriculum. Follow<strong>in</strong>g are<br />
vignettes which provide <strong>in</strong>sight <strong>in</strong>to the implementation of the arts <strong>and</strong> creative curricula <strong>in</strong><br />
different preschool sett<strong>in</strong>gs. Figure 1.9.1 shows the high level of <strong>in</strong>clusion of the arts <strong>in</strong><br />
preschools:<br />
Figure 1.9.1 <strong>Arts</strong> education <strong>in</strong> preschools<br />
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