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

MULTIFACETED APPROACH TO VISUAL ARTS EDUCATION
Arts now educates art specialists and at the Iceland University of Education
students can choose art as an additional specialty. The preparation of these
groups for their occupation is quite different. Teachers from the latter receive
their education as classroom teachers with visual art as a specialty. Those
who receive their education at the Iceland Academy of Arts receive a special
education in art pedagogy and didactics and must have a prior degree from
an art institution or art university. Whereas at the Iceland University of
Education students are not required to have any prior art knowledge except
from compulsory school.
The art teacher education programmes in Iceland basically build upon
two different traditions. The arts based teacher education that has it roots
at the Art and Craft College of Iceland and the general teacher education
based at the Teachers’ College of Iceland with some specialization in visual
art. As Guðrún Helgadóttir and others pointed out in 1982 the challenge
of these schools should have been to combine their resources (1982: 94). In
light of Shulman’s concept pedagogical content knowledge that refers to the
synthesis (fusion) of content knowledge in the discipline and pedagogical
knowledge and skills (see Lindström m’s first chapter above), it would have
been the ideal choice. The closest we can come to this today is the education
of art teachers at the Iceland Academy of the Arts in Reykjavík. After
receiving a degree in visual arts and/or design the students can add one or
two years (60 ECTS) of education (art pedagogy and didactics) and receive a
postgraduate degree teacher certificate.
It must be noted that at the M.Ed. level there are new specialty programmes
in the making at both teachers’ universities. At The Iceland University of
Education: Art, culture and museum education is a new specialty programme
in education studies that includes theoretical studies in visual art. Several
artists – art teachers have commenced their master’s studies at the faculty
of education at the University of Akureyri where they can direct their specialty
towards art education. Hopefully, more academic research in art education
will follow.
Postgraduate studies in visual arts education in Iceland
The first Icelander (and only one so far) to be awarded her doctorate degree
in art and craft education is Guðrún Helgadóttir. In 1997 she received
a doctoral degree for her dissertation Icelandic craft teachers’ curriculum
identity as reflected in life histories from the University of British Columbia.
Helgadóttir has played a key role in the field of art and craft education in
Iceland, including research in the field. She was chairman of the review
NORDIC VISUAL ARTS EDUCATION IN TRANSITION 117