Uppeldi og menntun - 01.01.2014, Page 25

Uppeldi og menntUn/icelandic JoUrnal of edUcation 23(1) 2014 25
HaLLa jÓnsDÓTTir
This study is part of a comprehensive Nordic research project conducted at the be-
hest of The Nordic Council of Ministers and simultaneously launched in five different
countries: Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden, under the auspices of
Danmarks Evalueringsinstitut (EVA) and Danmarks Pædagogiske Universitet (DPU). The
report, Rekrutteringsproblematikken på de nordiske læreruddannelser (Norræna ráðherra-
nefndin [Nordic Council of Ministers], 2010) provides a detailed account of the central
findings of the research. The current article draws on those findings as it compares the
Icelandic results to those from the other Nordic countries.
The findings of the research bring to light that the Icelandic student teachers com-
prised a relatively homogenous group; 83% women and 17% men. Here, Iceland stood
out, with the highest proportion of female students in the department of compulsory
school education. 98% of the secondary school students were native Icelandic speak-
ers, the educational level of their mothers was higher than their fathers’, and most of
the student teachers within the focus group had a close relative who was a teacher.
Guðbjörg Vilhjálmsdóttir’s (2005) findings concerning adolescents’ views on grade
school reveal that boys considered the work of grade school teachers less respectable
than the girls did, and similarly, the boys found the job less interesting, entailing less
responsibility, and being more “feminine”. Furthermore, the importance of diversity in
relation to teachers’ cultural and religious backgrounds has been observed by Hanna
Ragnarsdóttir and Hildur Blöndal (2007). They contend that this is the only means by
which the necessary cross-cultural skills can be created within schools.
Moreover, the findings of the research disclosed that the student teachers favored
studies focusing on cooperation rather than studies involving competition; they also
preferred practical programs which offered more possibilities for diverse positions,
but were not as highly appreciated. The questionnaire revealed that Icelandic second-
ary school students considered the teacher’s knowledge of his/her own subject the
most important aspect; they believed that the same subjects were taught in teacher
education as in secondary school; however, the former delved deeper into the material
than the latter. On the other hand, the Icelandic student teachers noted social skills as
the most important aspect of a teacher‘s competence. The Finnish student teachers
stood out in this regard, since they alone thought that pedagogy was the hard kernel
of teachers’ professionalism.
The secondary school students did not believe that teaching was well suited for
them. Salaries were too low. They felt, however, that the profession was important.
92% of Icelandic student teachers agreed that this profession is imperative for society.
The secondary school students agreed. There was, however, a perceptible difference
in relation to teachers’ respect within society: 40% of student teachers believed that
grade school teachers enjoyed little or very little respect.
In the questionnaire, 93% of student teachers strongly agreed, or agreed, to the
statement that teachers had flexible working hours, and that, as a teacher, there would
be enough free time for the family. However, there emerged a clear gender difference
in the student teachers’ answers: 90% of women felt it was very important, or some-
what important, to have enough time to attend to the family along with work, where-
as only 23% of men were of this opinion. Around 78% of student teachers strongly