Research in Visual Arts Education - The National Society for ...

MULTIFACETED APPROACH TO VISUAL ARTS EDUCATION
Teacher training and art teacher education
There are various ways to receive teacher training in Iceland. The Iceland
University of Education was founded in 1908 as the Teachers’ College of
Iceland and has now operated at the university level for 30 years. It offers
undergraduate studies in which students can earn a B.A., B.S., or B.Ed. degree
(180 ECTS), Diploma (90 ECTS) and post-degree, Teacher Certification
programme. At the graduate level students can earn a Diploma in Education
(30-60 ECTS), M.Ed. degree (120 ECTS), and since 2001 a doctoral
programme (180 ECTS). The same education as mentioned above, except
for the doctoral programme, is available at the Faculty of Education at the
University of Akureyri.
When the Iceland Academy of Arts was founded in 1999, the oldest institution
of art in this country The Art and Craft College of Iceland was merged
with it and became the department of art and design of the Academy. The
College of Art and Craft was founded in 1939 as the School of Craft and later
became the College of Art and Craft. The school had an important role as a
school of visual art, craft and design as well as an institute of teaching. The
man whose influence on art and craft education was to be enduring was the
founder of the College of Crafts Lúðvíg Guðmundsson. Together with Kurt
Zier, whom he recruited as head teacher of this new school, they had enormous
influence on the development of art and craft education in Iceland
(Helgadóttir, 1997:28). A department of art was added to the school in 1942
which trained those who wanted to be artists and art teachers side by side
(p. 29). This might be seen as an attempt to combine content knowledge and
general pedagogical knowledge comparable to Lee Shulman’s definition of
pedagogical content knowledge (see the first chapter in this publication).
The question is which one of our different ways to educate art teachers/
educators is most likely to achieve the right balance in the knowledge base
of art education.
Specially educated art teachers teach visual art for the most parts both
in compulsory school and upper secondary school. Although recently it has
become more prevalent that classroom teachers teach visual art in the lower
grades in primary school (1–4). Art teachers in upper secondary school generally
hold a degree in visual art or design, often an MFA degree as well
as post-degree teacher certification. Visual art teachers at the compulsory
school level on the other hand more often hold an ordinary teachers’ degree
with 30 elective credits (60ECTS) in art.
The older and more experienced art teachers of today received their education
at The Art and Craft College of Iceland. The school educated “drawing
teachers” in Iceland until the year 1990. The Iceland Academy of the
116 NORDIC VISUAL ARTS EDUCATION IN TRANSITION