Arts and Cultural Education at School in Europe. Iceland 2007/08

Overview & Synopsis

This paper focuses on Iceland's arts and cultural education. The objective of arts education is to develop creativity, strengthen self-identity, and increase cultural understanding. It aims at a balance between, creation, expression and interpretation, on the one hand, and perception, discernment and evaluation, on the other. In accordance with this the defined aims of arts education are to: (1) teach expressive methods of the various arts; and (2) make the pupil aware of the purpose, meaning and context of artistic creations. This paper contains the following sections: (1) Responsibility and purpose; (2) Organisation and aims of arts education; (3) Special provision with a focus on art education; (4) Assessment of pupils' progress and monitoring of standards in the arts; (5) Teacher education in the arts; (6) Initiatives; and (7) Ongoing reforms and proposals.