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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<strong>in</strong> their children they are very happy. One of the strengths of small towns <strong>in</strong> Icel<strong>and</strong> is the seasonal festivals. Everyone<br />
has to st<strong>and</strong> on a stage <strong>and</strong> there is strong tradition of this outside traditional education.<br />
Some after school providers are also look<strong>in</strong>g for more ways to <strong>in</strong>troduce creative elements to<br />
their work, as these comments suggest:<br />
We try to get the children to compose from when they are very young. We encourage them to be creative <strong>and</strong> to<br />
play by ear.<br />
Children should be encouraged to open up. They need to realise they have the agency to be creative. It’s all<br />
about work<strong>in</strong>g with wonder. We could th<strong>in</strong>k about education without schools – look<strong>in</strong>g outside the classrooms as<br />
much as we look <strong>in</strong>side them.<br />
There are examples where compulsory school reform <strong>and</strong> the build<strong>in</strong>g of new types of school<br />
build<strong>in</strong>gs have led to highly creative curriculum structures. The follow<strong>in</strong>g vignette shows a model<br />
of <strong>in</strong>novative school reform that is exemplify<strong>in</strong>g the way creativity can be embedded throughout<br />
a compulsory school:<br />
Vignette 3.4.2 This is a school of the 21 st century<br />
In a modern build<strong>in</strong>g, an artistically tra<strong>in</strong>ed school pr<strong>in</strong>cipal leads 450 pupils <strong>and</strong> 70 teachers through a programme of<br />
<strong>in</strong>novation courses.<br />
The school focuses on teach<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong>novation <strong>and</strong> teach<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> an <strong>in</strong>novative way. The children learn through the design<br />
process, tra<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g the imag<strong>in</strong>ation, creative th<strong>in</strong>k<strong>in</strong>g <strong>and</strong> problem solv<strong>in</strong>g. Innovation is a core part of everyday.<br />
The school does not have classrooms, but rather open spaces shared by groups of pupils <strong>and</strong> four teachers. The<br />
children work accord<strong>in</strong>g to a theme that lasts up to a month or more. The school has a philosophy of teach<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> <strong>and</strong><br />
through the arts. All themes have a m<strong>in</strong>imum requirement of 30% of the arts. They see the arts not just as content,<br />
but as a method of learn<strong>in</strong>g. Teachers work <strong>in</strong> groups to share the plann<strong>in</strong>g.<br />
While the national curriculum is covered, themes form the mechanism for connect<strong>in</strong>g content <strong>and</strong> learn<strong>in</strong>g.<br />
Assessment is conducted through performance-based appraisal. They use <strong>in</strong>novative assessment methods such as<br />
‘cheat tests’, collaborative tests, <strong>and</strong> oral tests. There is an <strong>in</strong>dividual progress folder on each child <strong>and</strong> it covers<br />
learn<strong>in</strong>g both <strong>in</strong>side <strong>and</strong> outside the school. Evaluation is made of the whole theme.<br />
The work<strong>in</strong>g strategies are directed towards meet<strong>in</strong>g the needs of the <strong>in</strong>dividual. The teachers comment that they<br />
really like work<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> this school. They say that the job of teach<strong>in</strong>g is improved by work<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> teams. They <strong>in</strong>itially<br />
found the open plan of the build<strong>in</strong>g challeng<strong>in</strong>g, but now “can’t imag<strong>in</strong>e go<strong>in</strong>g back to teach <strong>in</strong> a classroom” The<br />
teachers claimed that the <strong>in</strong>novation tra<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g approach has led to them be<strong>in</strong>g better teachers. The open structure has<br />
provided an organised but flexible way to plan.<br />
The school has a number of partnerships outside the schools <strong>and</strong> teachers <strong>and</strong> children try to go on a number of trips<br />
each year.<br />
The school pr<strong>in</strong>cipal concludes, “This is a school of the 21 st century. The teachers wanted to make connections, now<br />
we have people from all over the world who come to see what we are do<strong>in</strong>g at this school. We have a lot of<br />
<strong>in</strong>ternational visitors.”<br />
“I'm fortunate with teachers <strong>and</strong> I look for creative teachers. We have to have creative students for the future <strong>and</strong> for<br />
the world, students who are not afraid of do<strong>in</strong>g new th<strong>in</strong>g with their head <strong>and</strong> their h<strong>and</strong>s. Creativity is good for the<br />
morale of the school <strong>and</strong> it is important for the kids to be themselves <strong>and</strong> build personality.<br />
3.5 Provision for critical reflection, problem solv<strong>in</strong>g <strong>and</strong> risk tak<strong>in</strong>g<br />
‣ Icel<strong>and</strong>ic education supports research-based learn<strong>in</strong>g <strong>and</strong> promotes risk tak<strong>in</strong>g<br />
through open approaches to curriculum <strong>and</strong> plann<strong>in</strong>g<br />
‣ All projects should be encouraged to embed greater critical reflection by both pupils<br />
<strong>and</strong> teachers<br />
‣ People responsible for deliver<strong>in</strong>g arts education <strong>and</strong> children should be tra<strong>in</strong>ed <strong>in</strong><br />
<strong>in</strong>quiry processes<br />
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