Uppeldi og menntun - 01.07.2013, Qupperneq 121

Uppeldi og menntUn/icelandic JoUrnal of edUcation 22(2) 2013 121
gísli Þorsteinsson og BrynJar Ólafsson
model for sloyd developed by Aksel Mikkelsen in Copenhagen. Later the teaching
was based on a Swedish model from Salomon in Nääs. Around 1920, however, cottage
industry became more popular in the education of teachers. The originators of sloyd sep-
arated cottage industry from pedagogical sloyd. Their main argument was grounded
on the general pedagogical value which sloyd or school industry represented;
according to their reasoning, cottage industry was solely based on practical values,
not pedagogical. Despite the influence of cottage industry on teacher education dur-
ing this time, pedagogical handicraft education increasingly gained precedence in the
Icelandic elementary school curriculum, and as it gained strength handicraft educa-
tion in Iceland once again came to be based on the initial pedagogy.
Sloyd pedagogy was first introduced to Icelandic educators in 1890 by one of the
first Icelandic professional educators, Jón Þórarinsson, who in 1892 began teaching
pedagogical handicraft in the public and high school in Flensborg, Hafnarfjordur.
In 1908 Matthías Þórðarson launched a sloyd programme to educate teachers in the
teacher training college in Reykjavik. Halldora Bjarnadottir, amongst others, was also
one of those early educators in teacher training. She was a pioneer in teaching cottage
industry in Icelandic schools which was in opposition to the ideology of pedagogical
handicraft education.
The educational background of the initiators of pedagogical handicraft in Iceland
influenced the emphasis and content of their teaching. In the beginning, Icelandic
teacher education in pedagogical handicraft was influenced by sloyd and was intend-
ed for both sexes. Later it developed into different subjects for different sexes; handi-
craft for boys and handicraft for girls. Handicraft for boys was based on the initial
Scandinavian system for sloyd, whereas handicraft for girls was influenced by cottage
craft and art. Later, these subjects merged again under the influence of cottage craft.
Keywords: Pedagogical handicraft education, sloyd, teacher education, handicraft,
cottage craft
abOUt tHE aUtHOrs
Gisli Thorsteinsson (cdt@hi.is) is associate professor in design and craft in the School
of Education at the University of Iceland. Gisli holds a doctoral degree in philosophy
from Loughborough University in England, his dissertation focused on ideation train-
ing in innovation education in Iceland. His present research focus is on the history of
pedagogic craft education in Iceland and on using a virtual reality learning environ-
ment in education.
Brynjar Olafsson (brynjar@hi.is) is adjunct lecturer in design and craft in the School of
Education at the University of Iceland. He has completed a teacher certificate from
Iceland University of Education and a diploma in art and craft education from Tele-
mark College in Norway. He holds a master’s degree in education from the University
of Iceland. His main research focus has been on craft education and its value for the
elementary school curriculum.