Arts and Cultural Education in Iceland : Professor Anne Bamford

in their children they are very happy. One of the strengths of small towns in Iceland is the seasonal festivals. Everyone
has to stand on a stage and there is strong tradition of this outside traditional education.
Some after school providers are also looking for more ways to introduce creative elements to
their work, as these comments suggest:
We try to get the children to compose from when they are very young. We encourage them to be creative and to
play by ear.
Children should be encouraged to open up. They need to realise they have the agency to be creative. It’s all
about working with wonder. We could think about education without schools – looking outside the classrooms as
much as we look inside them.
There are examples where compulsory school reform and the building of new types of school
buildings have led to highly creative curriculum structures. The following vignette shows a model
of innovative school reform that is exemplifying the way creativity can be embedded throughout
a compulsory school:
Vignette 3.4.2 This is a school of the 21 st century
In a modern building, an artistically trained school principal leads 450 pupils and 70 teachers through a programme of
innovation courses.
The school focuses on teaching innovation and teaching in an innovative way. The children learn through the design
process, training the imagination, creative thinking and problem solving. Innovation is a core part of everyday.
The school does not have classrooms, but rather open spaces shared by groups of pupils and four teachers. The
children work according to a theme that lasts up to a month or more. The school has a philosophy of teaching in and
through the arts. All themes have a minimum requirement of 30% of the arts. They see the arts not just as content,
but as a method of learning. Teachers work in groups to share the planning.
While the national curriculum is covered, themes form the mechanism for connecting content and learning.
Assessment is conducted through performance-based appraisal. They use innovative assessment methods such as
‘cheat tests’, collaborative tests, and oral tests. There is an individual progress folder on each child and it covers
learning both inside and outside the school. Evaluation is made of the whole theme.
The working strategies are directed towards meeting the needs of the individual. The teachers comment that they
really like working in this school. They say that the job of teaching is improved by working in teams. They initially
found the open plan of the building challenging, but now “can’t imagine going back to teach in a classroom” The
teachers claimed that the innovation training approach has led to them being better teachers. The open structure has
provided an organised but flexible way to plan.
The school has a number of partnerships outside the schools and teachers and children try to go on a number of trips
each year.
The school principal concludes, “This is a school of the 21 st century. The teachers wanted to make connections, now
we have people from all over the world who come to see what we are doing at this school. We have a lot of
international visitors.”
“I'm fortunate with teachers and I look for creative teachers. We have to have creative students for the future and for
the world, students who are not afraid of doing new thing with their head and their hands. Creativity is good for the
morale of the school and it is important for the kids to be themselves and build personality.
3.5 Provision for critical reflection, problem solving and risk taking
‣ Icelandic education supports research-based learning and promotes risk taking
through open approaches to curriculum and planning
‣ All projects should be encouraged to embed greater critical reflection by both pupils
and teachers
‣ People responsible for delivering arts education and children should be trained in
inquiry processes
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