External Assessment of:

UNIVERSITY OF ICELAND (HÍ) The Teaching Certification Program

UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF EDUCATION (KHÍ)

UNIVERSITY OF AKUREYRI (HA) The Compulsory School Program and the Teaching Certification Program

Report of the Peer Review Group

Ministry of Education, Science and Culture March 1998 Table of Contents I Introduction 1 1.1 The Peer Review Group 1 1.2 Working Method 2 1.3 Evaluation of the Review 3 II General Overview 5 2.1. The Nature and Endemic Problems of Teacher Education 5 2.2 The Icelandic Context 6 2.3 Conception of Teacher Education 7 III The Three Institutions 8 3.1 General overview 8 3.2 Vision for the Future of Teacher Education 8 3.3 Co-ordination Among the Three Institutions 8 3.4 Distance Education 9 3.5 Program Length 9 3.6 Data Sources 10 3.7 Uncertified Teachers 10 3.8 Science and Mathematics Teaching 10 3.9 Use of Information Technology in Teacher Training 11 IV Evaluation of the Institutions 12 4.1 Common Features in the Three Institutions 12 4.2 University of Iceland (HÍ) 15 4.3 University College of Education (KHÍ) 19 4.4 University of Akureyri (HA) 24

V Answers to Questions Posed by the Ministry 27

VI Summary of Findings 32

VII Documents Read by the PRG 34

Appendices: Apendix I - Guidelines for the External Assessment by the Peer Review Group (PRG) Appendix II - attendance list at HÍ Appendix III - meetings agenda at HÍ Appendix IV - attendance list at KHÍ Appendix V - meetings agenda at KHÍ Appendix VI - attendance list at HA Appendix VII - meetings agenda at HA - 1 -

1.0 Introduction This report summarises the findings of a Peer Review Group (PRG) in an external assessment of teacher education in Iceland which was conducted in January 1998. The institutions involved in this external assessment were:

− University College of Education (KHÍ), the B.Ed. program, the Teaching Certification Program and the Department of Educational Sciences; − University of Akureyri (HA), the Compulsory School Program and the Teaching Certification Program; − University of Iceland (HÍ), the Teaching Certification Program.

The PRG conducted the assessment in accordance with Guidelines1 for External Assessment which is a document, issued by the Steering Committee, based on the Guidelines for European Pilot Projects for Evaluating Quality in Higher Education.

1.1 The Peer Review Group As specified by the Guidelines, the PRG was appointed by the Steering Committee and should be composed as follows: A chairperson with no connection to the establishments to be visited and with experience of management of universities or other institutions of higher education and equipped with a good knowledge of the changes taking place during the last few years. Two experts from the academic field of teacher training, an expert representing employers of teachers, an expert from a higher education institution.

The group members were: − Benjamin Levin, Ph.D. Dean of Continuing Education Division, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada, who chaired the group. − Halldór Halldórsson, M.Sc. Lecturer at Tölvuháskóli Verslunarskóla Íslands, Reykjavík − Sigrún Gísladóttir, B.A./B.Ed. Principal of Flataskóli, Garðabær − Sigrún Jóhannesdóttir, M.S. former vice-president of Samvinnuháskólinn at Bifröst , who was secretary to the group. − Trygve Bergem, Ph.D. Professor of The Norwegian Teacher Academy, Bergen, Norway.

1 See appendix I

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1.2 Working Method The process: Each institution completed a self-evaluation report which the group read and discussed before it started the visits to the department, faculty or school in question. During the preparatory meetings the group came to an agreement on the terms of reference. The following questions were used as a reference when discussing the reports:

About the report itself: − Is the report sufficiently descriptive, critical and analytical? − Are the strengths and weaknesses clearly presented? − Is any information missing?

About the content: − Are the goals and aims clearly formulated? − How are these translated in the curricula? − Do the student assessments and examinations reflect the content of the programs and the courses? Does the graduate really have the expected knowledge, skills and attitudes?

Examples of overall issues at the visits: Vision for the future: − Response to the changing nature of teaching and society − Co-ordination among the three institutions − Appropriate mandate for each Objectives : − Link to program activities Program and instruction: − Approach to technology − Approach to innovative teaching methods − Modelling of innovative teaching methods Practice teaching: − How much is needed? − Quality of connections to schools Distance Education: − Role and future development Students: − Need for teachers Quality management

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− Approach External relations: − With other university departments − With schools − With the broader community Continuing Education: − How important? − What is being done? − Future plans Research: − Program direction − What is the relationship between teaching and research? − In what way do students come into contact with research? − What role does the research play in the programs?

The assignment of the PRG was to form an opinion, on the basis of all the information supplied by the department/faculty and by means of discussion held on the site, about the quality of education and the educational process. The PRG should also take into account, as far as possible, the expectations of the students, society and prospective employers.

The visits took place in January 1998 and the PRG met at all institutions with administration, heads of programs, staff and students.2 The group also held meetings each day to review points on each institution. After completing the visits the PRG met to shape the draft report. The Icelandic group met three times to discuss the report besides e-mail communication and the report was sent to the two non-Icelandic members of the group three times via e-mail and they sent their remarks back via e- mail.

1.3 Evaluation of the Review It was clear from the first meeting of the PRG that this report could not be limited to the institutions concerned, and that the group would have to look at national policy issues as well. The time and resources for that, however, were limited and those circumstances affected the scope and the quality of the assessment. It would have helped in the group's work to have a background document with various data from the Ministry, outlining basic information such as expected demand for teachers in Iceland, numbers of untrained teachers, etc.

2 See appendices 2-7

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The self-evaluation reports were quite dissimilar and lacked information, which made the group's job more difficult. There were complaints in the report from HA that it was done very quickly, in HI an update of an old report was used and the report was not in accordance with the given format in the guidelines. There was also a general lack of data in the self-evaluation reports (see below under each institution) .

The self-evaluation reports were written in Icelandic in the institutions and partly translated to English for the non-Icelandic members of the PRG. All the appendices and extra information was in Icelandic so the two non-Icelandic members had to rely on the Icelanders to access that information. In all the meetings of the PRG and in the schools English was used as the main tool for communication. Even though most of the people interviewed are quite fluent in English this aspect of the evaluation may in some instances account for less information or occasional misunderstanding.

The visits were very tightly scheduled and provided little time to discuss the findings of the group in between meetings. To have a day between the visits in different institutions to share thoughts and summarise findings would have been more ideal. Some students and staff members complained that they were not adequately prepared for the meetings and would have given additional relevant information if they had been better informed about the form and agenda of the meetings.

All these factors affected the quality of this assessment.

The terms in English for the school system vary and to avoid any misunderstanding, we use the terms 1-14th grade levels in the English version of the report instead of primary, compulsory, secondary, upper secondary, grammar, and so on.

Finally the PRG would like to express sincere thanks to all involved in this evaluation: the Steering Group for preparation, and the staff and students in the schools for their willingness to help, and for providing facilities and meals. We hope that these conclusions will contribute to continuing development of teacher education in Iceland.

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2.0 - General Overview

2.1 The Nature and Endemic Problems of Teacher Education Teacher Education is a field that has, world-wide, a set of common problems associated with it. These problems do not lend themselves to any easy solution but also cannot be avoided, and so they inevitably influence the shape of this report.

A teacher is expected to know and be able to do many things, including having a mastery of subject matter, being able to teach subject matter effectively, having a broad understanding of educational matters such as philosophy, history, and politics, having a deep understanding of aspects of psychology such as child development and learning theory, understanding students backgrounds and their individual differences and needs, being able to work effectively with parents and with other professionals, and so on.

Because of this total set of expectations it is probably impossible for anyone to master the teaching profession fully, even in a lifetime, and there will always be the feeling that teacher education programs are inadequate.

The appropriate balance between preparation in academic subjects and preparation in pedagogical skills is a perpetual issue. Those who are working in the various fields of knowledge often feel that teachers in schools do not know their academic disciplines sufficiently. Yet those involved with pedagogical concerns are also of the view that teachers do not know enough about such critical matters as how to assess pupil progress, how to remedy reading problems, how to use new technology, and so on. Even if teacher education were extended by years, these concerns could not be satisfied fully, so any teacher education program inevitably involves some compromises and some important matters will receive insufficient attention.

How much time should be spent in the schools as part of teacher education is always controversial. It is clear that prospective teachers value their practice teaching enormously, but time spent in schools cannot also be used to deal with the many other areas of subject matter. So here, too, there will always be a feeling that the current provisions are not ideal.

Similarly, some people will always feel that teacher education is too theoretical, while others will believe that there is too much focus on so-called practical techniques at the expense of a deeper understanding of subject matter and pedagogy.

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Teacher education has a generally low status in universities. Education programs may be seen within the university as lacking the rigour of the traditional disciplines and as not attracting sufficiently capable students. It can be difficult to get other university departments to co-operate effectively with education programs, even though such co- operation is vital to an effective program.

2.2 The Icelandic Context A number of features of education in Iceland affect teacher education in important ways:

− Teachers are relatively poorly paid by international standards. This may make it harder to recruit outstanding students into teaching, and it probably results in increased turnover of teachers which reduces the quality of education at the same time as it increases the requirements for various kinds of teacher training.

− The PRG did not have adequate data on the demand for teachers, so it is difficult to judge the overall adequacy of current initial training programs, but it appears that the proportion of teachers without formal qualifications will continue to be substantial.

− There are many small and rural schools that require teachers with a broad range of skills.

− The current Icelandic school system is characterised by a long period of secondary schooling. Students spend 14 years in secondary school before beginning post- secondary studies - one or even two years longer than in most countries. This makes it harder to lengthen post-secondary programs because students will simply have too many years of schooling before they can start a career.

− The education system is quite decentralised. Both schools and universities operate with considerable autonomy on matters such as staffing and curriculum, so it is harder to develop and enforce national programs and policies.

− The current program of summer courses and other short in-service courses for teachers is not sufficient as many teachers are unable to gain admission to the courses they want.

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2.3 Conception of Teacher Education. The most important recommendation our group can make is to advise a change in the conception of teacher education in Iceland from one dominated by concern for initial teacher education to one embodying lifelong learning. It is inevitable, in our view, that for the reasons already mentioned initial teacher education will always be insufficient. As conditions change, teachers will also require new skills. For example, even the best trained teacher of 25 years ago, of whom there are many still working in schools, would have had no preparation in working with information technology.

Moreover, teachers will often be asked to take on tasks other than those for which they were trained - to teach new subjects or different grade levels. While one can in theory have all sorts of initial certification requirements or retraining requirements for teachers who move, the reality is that there will always be many people teaching classes or subjects for which they have not received adequate training.

The country therefore requires a national system which provides reasonable initial teacher education as well as an extensive program of continuing education, some of which will be linked to formal credentials and some of which will not. The Ministry needs to provide strong support, including funding, for such a program , which should be collaboratively planned and delivered by the post-secondary institutions, teacher unions and municipalities. At present, the three teacher-training institutions all devote much more of their resources to initial training than to ongoing training. The recommendations that follow are aimed at supporting this shifting focus to an approach of lifelong learning for teachers.

All of this does not mean that the PRG wants to question the importance of good initial teacher education, or weaken the present teacher education programs in Iceland by transferring money from the one field to the other. To prevent any misunderstanding, the PRG wants to underline that the main concern is that the country both needs to improve the initial teacher education program and take steps to establish a well organised system of life long learning in the schools.

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3.0 The Three Institutions 3.1 General Overview As a general statement, all the three institutions involved in teacher training in Iceland are making interesting and important efforts to meet teacher training needs. We found much energy and innovation, positive attitudes and helpful teachers throughout; many people are working very hard, and students on the whole are very positive about the programs. Therefore the overall evaluation is that the institutions should be commended on their work. At the same time, as all of them readily agree, much remains to be done and there are large problems unresolved in all three institutions.

The PRG also takes the view that the most important issues are national in scope rather than institutional, so, although we do comment on the three institutions individually, much of this report discusses issues that apply to all three and also involve the government.

3.2 Vision for the Future of Teacher Education. In all the institutions it was stressed that the self-study had been a useful, if sometimes rushed, process. However the PRG felt that teacher education in all the institutions was dominated by concerns about the present to the exclusion of a clear sense of future direction. Many of their future hopes appear to depend on actions of others, such as the extension of teacher education programs by the Ministry. In our view, the institutions need to work to develop a clearer long-term plan for the matters that are under their control. Each institution should have a public document that lays out their plans for development of their work in the areas of initial teacher education, continuing education for teachers, graduate programs (where appropriate) and research related to teacher education and educational development. This plan should not assume that major changes, such as an additional year or an internship program, will be made by the Ministry.

3.3 Co-ordination Among the Three Institutions. While each institution has a distinct history, role and culture, all three agree that there could be a greater degree of collaboration among them. Some steps in this direction have recently been taken, such as the report in 1997 issued by the three institutions collectively. There are also many positive working relationships among individuals in all three, and staff at all the institutions expressed considerable willingness to work more closely together. However the PRG feels formal ties could be much stronger, and that the three institutions must have an ongoing process of working together to meet the nations needs in the most effective way.

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Among the areas that should be discussed and co-ordinated across the three organisations are: − curriculum development in all areas (e.g. course outlines, materials) − organisation of certification programs so that there is good access to a part-time, distance education delivery of a one year certification program in all parts of the country, aimed particularly at teachers who are currently not qualified or people in related institutions who want some formal training in teaching, − general distance education developments so that the cost and required infrastructure can be shared wherever possible, − continuing education efforts so that there is a good selection of opportunities available to teachers in much of the country.

The PRG is not suggesting that there should be no competition among the institutions. Some competition is healthy and we would not want the institutions to lose their distinct and rather different identities. However, it does seem that the current situation means that some needs are served well while others are not.

This process of collaboration must also involve key people beyond the three institutions, such as teacher unions, and representatives of 1-14th grade level schools. We would strongly encourage the institutions to develop a strong collaborative work on a voluntary basis, but if effective steps in this direction are not taken within a reasonable time, we would recommend that the Ministry established a body with a formal mandate to co-ordinate developments in teacher education.

3.4 Distance Education Each of the institutions has taken some steps in relation to distance education, with the process most fully developed at the University College of Education. Because distance education is potentially expensive to develop and because it has applications to the entire country, we suggest that distance education efforts in teacher education be developed through collaborative work between the three institutions and the Ministry of Education on a national basis to provide initial teacher education and continuing education to those wanting or needing these programs. Moreover, distance education should not be thought of as a separate program, but possibilities for independent study should be made widely available to students, wherever they may be located.

3.5 Program Length. There is no ideal or optimal program length in teacher education. Programs in many countries have moved from one year to three years to four or five years but the

External Assessment of Teacher Education in Iceland 1998 - 10 - concerns about knowledge of teaching, knowledge of subject matter, and knowledge in ancillary areas remain. Empirical evidence does not link more years of preparation with better student outcomes. Hence program length in initial teacher education is less important than a system that provides continuing education opportunities for teachers throughout their careers. We believe that the highest priority is for the state to support a stronger program of continuing education for teachers. However, since the fourth year of initial training has been promised several times, the Ministry should in the very near future make a definitive statement as to whether such a change will or will not be made.

3.6 Data Sources All three institutions should conduct regular surveys of current and former students so that they can be aware of students’ views about the program and of the destinations and attitudes of former students (not just graduates).

3.7 Uncertified Teachers In all three institutions the PRG experienced that there seemed to be a constant demand for certification programs from people currently teaching without certification. Through the co-ordination process described above, the country needs a well thought out national program to provide opportunities for teachers, at all levels, to pursue a part-time certification program using independent study and distance education approaches. All the institutions are already involved in this area in some way; the task is to make better use of resources to meet the needs.

3.8 Science and Mathematics Teaching Clearly, Iceland does not have nearly enough teachers with strong backgrounds in science and mathematics. The same is the case in many other countries. This is a circular problem - if students do not have excellent teachers in these areas they are less likely to be interested in the subjects and so less likely to pursue university studies in these areas and become teachers. This is not something that can be resolved only by teacher education institutions because, especially at the 11-14th grade level, prospective teachers must complete a degree in these subjects, and enrolment in these programs - for example in mathematics at the University of Iceland - is very low. Additionally, a low proportion of these graduates make a career as teachers.

There are now various committees working on curriculum revisions in the subjects for the schools. A vital step will be to improve the backgrounds of teachers already working through special courses or studies at all the institutions. Universities could

External Assessment of Teacher Education in Iceland 1998 - 11 - also give more support to students in these fields as they enter teacher education - for example in the science division at University of Akureyri - so that students are not deterred from specialisation because of concerns about their own background in these subjects. The PRG discusses this problem further in the comments on each of the institutions.

3.9 Use of Information Technology in Teacher Training It is important to distinguish between learning about information technology and learning to use information technology. The main emphasis in teacher education should be on learning to use information technology and integrate it into all subject areas. Computer equipment is a necessary condition for progress in this area but by no means the only condition and should not be the main focus of attention. Educational software in various subjects and the general use of computerised information resources are far more important in an educational context.

Information technology has transformed the workplace of a large part of the population, but so far its impact in classrooms is limited. This is likely to change drastically, even within the next decade. However, large-scale investment in equipment will be wasted if the teachers are not adequately prepared to be able to integrate the technology into their teaching. Hence a substantial part of the budget should be dedicated to the education of teachers. The rapid change in this area can only be foreseen to a limited extent and therefore in-service courses and support for teachers in the schools are of vital importance. We must not, however, neglect the role of the initial teacher training, which only becomes really effective through professional development of the staff of the teacher training colleges in this area.

The Icelandic institutions appear to be doing well in the use of information technology in teacher education compared to similar institutions in other countries. They show interest and all of them have taken steps to introduce more teaching in this area. Students, however, complain about limited access to computer facilities. The PRG believes that the current plans of the institution are reasonable, but of course, more resources in this area would be beneficial.

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4.0 - Evaluation of the Institutions. In this section we first discuss general points common to all three institutions and then some special points relevant to each institution. These remarks are based on the information from the visits and the self-evaluation reports.

4.1 Common Features in the Three Institutions Quality in education is determined by many different aspects and the concept of quality can be interpreted in many ways. It is for example affected by goals and objectives and how they are translated in the curricula and the content and level of the subject matter taught. The content is also strongly dependent on the objectives and the manner in which these are translated into student assignments. The PRG, as a start, focused on the link between objectives and program structure in each institution.

Policy and Objectives: The link between objectives and program structure was not very clearly stated in the self-evaluation reports. We found less long-term strategy or sense of direction than would be desirable, although there was more evidence of such direction at HÍ. This is discussed further in the chapters on each institution. The programs are dominated by pragmatic considerations (which is normal) but all the institutions need to be more future oriented.

Connections between the National Curriculum Guide and the programs in the three institutions were not clear, but students, who were asked, knew the National Curriculum Guide in their special subjects. The students also pointed out that it seemed to be of little use, as teaching in the primary and secondary schools was not based on the formal Curriculum but rather on the available teaching material and the text books. These remarks lead the PRG to the question: "To what extent is the National Curriculum Guide a guiding tool in Icelandic schools?"

Content and Instruction: All the institutions face the problem of trying to put as much content as possible into their programs and feeling that quite a few areas do not get enough attention, including perhaps especially practice teaching and specialist knowledge in particular subjects. This is somewhat less the case at HA.

Although students are quite positive about the instruction they receive, students also report much more lecturing and less interactive teaching than the staff members claim

External Assessment of Teacher Education in Iceland 1998 - 13 - to be the case. (Less the case in HÍ). Staff members could review actual teaching methods to make sure that there is sufficient interactive teaching.

The students also complained about a lack of Icelandic information, e.g. statistics about the Icelandic school system, in the study material which is mainly written in foreign languages about foreign conditions. This raised the question of connection between research and instruction and student projects and the need to strengthen the connection.

Students and Staff: The PRG was generally surprised by the limited extent to which data on students, their results, etc. was integrated into the reports. We would expect institutions to be guided by sound empirical evidence about their programs, which currently is often lacking.

In comparison with institutions in other countries, the Icelandic institutions appear to be adequately staffed in relation to current mandates and number of students. No doubt more faculty members would enrich each institution. But the PRG believes that the institutions need to look at more efficient ways to use teaching staff - increase co- ordination across institutions, share courses across programs, fewer short courses and as a result less preparation time.

Of great assistance would be a change in the institutions' salary structures so that reasonable salaries are paid for reasonable teaching loads. Faculty members should not have such a strong financial incentive to take on additional teaching. Teaching through lectures should not be rewarded more highly than teaching in other ways.

Part-time programs need to be realistically manageable for people with full-time jobs and other commitments. The institutions need to provide a way for some students to take more time to complete them - for example through courses that are entirely done by independent study, or by allowing students to take some courses at another institution.

All institutions could do more to recruit, train and support host teachers for practice teaching.

All institutions need to do more to develop strong and ongoing relationships with schools, municipalities, teacher unions and others with a vital interest in education. This involvement needs to be substantial and regular.

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Research: The balance between teaching and research in all institutions is not as it should be. Steps should be taken both at the institutional level and at the Ministry level to improve conditions for research. How this can be done could very well be the subject of another review.

A working rule in many countries is that each department in all institutions develops both a short term and a long term program for institutional and individual research before the budgets are approved and before money is granted to the institutions. This is a matter of priority and every institution needs to give high priority to research in order to be able to offer research based courses.

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4.2 University of Iceland (HÍ) The Teaching Certification Program in HÍ was established in 1951 and was at first offered as a series of courses within the Faculty of Arts. The program has been a part of the Education Department within the Faculty of Social Sciences since 1976 and has its own study committee. The program is aimed at 8-14th grade teachers. The teacher education in HÍ is composed of a four year program (120 units), three years of specialised subject study (BA/BS) and one year study in instructional methodology. Around 50 students graduate from the program each year.

The PRG read the self-evaluation reports and met with administration, staff and students3 according to plans4. The meetings took place at the HÍ on the 12th of January 1998.

The Self-Evaluation Report: As the self-evaluation report is the main source of information for the PRG it caused some problems that the report was written in 1996 and not in accordance with the guidelines for the institutions and the PRG. However, there was a 1997 supplementary report with some updated information (4 pages). The report was narrowly descriptive but analytical and stated a plan for future changes. It would have helped to have more data with empirical evidence about the programs. Background material and data, e.g. statistics, was very limited. On the whole, the report appeared outdated by the time of the visits.

A report written by three self-evaluation groups in the departments of Icelandic, Biology and Mathematics was sent to the Icelandic members of the PRG two weeks after the visits. Consequently, the PRG could not meet those self-evaluation groups to discuss their report.

Main Findings: Generally there are many positive things going on in the institution. The PRG was quite impressed with the commitment and openness of staff, and sense of dynamism in the program. However, the PRG mainly focuses on issues that need attention and this understates the many worthwhile initiatives the PRG found.

3 Appendix II - attendance list at HI 4 Appendix III - meetings agenda at HI

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The University needs to support the Education Department in developing closer relationships with other departments, especially where there is a high demand for teachers. Some attempts have been made in this direction and for instance a joint committee from the Education Department and the Faculty of Science submitted proposals for reorganisation of teacher education in mathematics and science in 1992. The proposed changes met with opposition and also it seems that some of them conflicted with the official prerequisites for the certification of teachers in upper secondary schools. In any case they were not implemented and as a result no progress was made for some 5 years. It is necessary to break this deadlock. In fact the Education Department needs a clear statement of support from the senior administration, and possibly from the Ministry as well.

The University might survey its graduates in various subjects in the different fields of specialisation to see how many of them are involved in teaching to some significant degree - the PRG suspects that this proportion is much higher than departments might think.

The Education Department might consider developing a partially concurrent model in which students might be admitted to Education and then complete some of their academic work - perhaps in high need areas such as science and mathematics.

The PRG strongly supports including courses in teaching subjects (e.g. the teaching of physics, the teaching of Icelandic, and so on) as part of the bachelor programs in those subjects. We would encourage the University to adopt this as a standard policy. Students who did this might then be able to do additional electives in their subject area as a part of their certification year studies.

The Education Department can only admit approximately half of the applicants to its program of certification. This even disrupts the M.Paed. in the Department of Icelandic intended for prospective teachers, since the students may be turned down by the Education Department. Such programs are in fact also being considered in other departments, but would run into the same problem. Given the shortage of teachers, it is most important to admit more students to the certification program.

Use of part-time teachers in part of the program is desirable. These should not be turned into full-time academic appointments as the program would then weaken its ties to schools. Computer courses and access to computers and other facilities, still need improvement to serve the need of students.

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The PRG´s main concerns were about the co-operation between the Education program and the various departments of the University of Iceland.

Policy, Objectives and Content of Study Program: The objectives are clearly stated but the philosophy behind the stated objectives is missing in the self-evaluation report. There is also a general lack of description of the program, its content and its connection to the objectives. The analysis part of the report, however, gives the impression that there is a clear connection between objectives and the program and the objectives are steering the process. This impression was confirmed by the visit.

Instructional Methods - Practice Teaching: The students expressed general satisfaction with the teaching methods. They felt they were treated as equals, and they were involved in forming the curriculum. Co- ordination between the various subjects and the practice teaching was clear and they felt that most teachers served as good examples in practice. Their main complaints were a heavy workload, they needed more practice teaching and better computer courses and access to computers.

In its plans for practice teaching, HÍ seems to be relying on an internship year with no evidence that there will be such a year. The University has to find a way of providing more practice teaching. One way to do this is simply to extend the University school year to more than twenty-six weeks as is the case in many other countries.

Mathematics and Science: HÍ is the main university in Iceland for students in mathematics and science. It is therefore important that HÍ finds ways to provide the teachers in these subjects that the country needs.

There is an obvious shortage of teachers in mathematics and the physical sciences. A joint effort on behalf of all three universities has been under way since early 1997. Committees have been analysing the situation and proposing solutions. In fact, a remedial program of courses for teachers with insufficient formal education in mathematics and the physical sciences has already been launched. The PRG encourages this effort.

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During the past 25 years 101 candidates have graduated from the Department of Mathematics with a B.Sc. degree and of those only about 15 are teaching in schools in Iceland. It is obvious that this rate of output is not going to provide all the teachers that are needed. Hence, an extensive in-service program is needed on a continuing basis and should not be regarded as an ad-hoc or one time program.

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4.3 University College of Education (KHÍ) The College is the biggest and most complex of the three institutions participating in the evaluation. It has its roots in the Icelandic Teachers Training College founded in 1908. The college was elevated to a university-level institution in 1971 at the same time as the scope of the college was widened and radical changes made in teacher training. Since then it has been expanding and developing as the main teacher education institution in the country.

The KHÍ consists of three departments: 1. Department of Teacher Training which has two programs: the B.Ed. program, graduating about 120 students a year, and the Teacher Certification Program, graduating about 20 students a year.

2. Department of Educational Sciences which offers a Masters Program, graduating in total 9 students so far.

3. Department of Continuous Education. The Continuous Education Program was not included in this evaluation. Given the importance of the continuous education it is a serious omission that it the ministry chose not to deal with it in this evaluation.

The PRG read the self-evaluation reports and met with administration, staff and students5 according to the plans.6 The meetings took place at the KHÍ on the 13th - 15th of January 1998.

The Self-Evaluation Report: The self-evaluation report was clear and descriptive. It also contained a special evaluation and remedial suggestions at the end of each section which made it easier for the PRG to get the necessary overview. It would have helped to have more data with empirical evidence about the programs. It would also have helped to have special chapters on the different programs, e.g. the Educational Science program which was sparsely discussed in the report. Goals and aims and how they are translated in the curricula were not clear in the report and a plan of future development and direction was missing.

5 Appendix IV - attendance list at KHI

6 Appendix V - meetings agenda at KHI

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Main Findings: Most of the following remarks refer to all departments but there are also chapters with special remarks on individual departments (see below).

Generally, there were many positive things in the College. For example a remarkable distance education program. The programs appear generally sound and appreciated by students. The College has many very skilled and committed staff members. However, the PRG mainly focuses on issues that need attention and this understates the many worthwhile initiatives we found in the College.

The KHÍ is a large and diverse institution with weak forces of coherence. A major challenge is how to create more focus while still allowing staff members a reasonable degree of individual autonomy. The current organisation and development of the KHÍ is complicated by current merger with three other colleges - this will create a large and complex institution and take some considerable adjustments.

The college has been putting many issues on hold while waiting for the fourth year of the B.Ed. program that was promised to them and then postponed several times. As noted earlier, there should be a definitive ruling on this. The college now needs to develop a clear sense of direction for itself.

The institution has had difficulties because of disputes and different philosophical camps among staff members on key issues - such as specialisation vs. general preparation. A way must be found to move beyond these issues and approach some sort of consensus on the main lines of programs. Too much of the current structure of the program is a matter of protecting the interests of individual faculty members. Too many short courses affect the quality of the teacher education in a negative way. It is hard for students to assemble subjects that have been torn apart. There is a real challenge here for the leadership of the College to be able to advance the situation.

The salary structure encourages more teaching than is optimal and needs to be altered. Teaching workload and administrative duties seem to hamper research and other developmental work.

All these conditions raise the question whether there is a need to rethink the fundamental structure and organisation of the college.

External Assessment of Teacher Education in Iceland 1998 - 21 -

Policy, Objectives and Content of Study Program: Objectives are very general - it might be useful to formulate the objectives more clearly. KHÍ has a problem of too many changes happening at the same time. Many staff members are involved with the B.Ed., the certification program, graduate programs, continuing education, and so on. They should consider whether it would be desirable either to focus on fewer activities or to assign faculty members to program areas so they would not be spread so thinly.

The distance education effort in the KHÍ is quite remarkable and with the extensive use of The Icelandic Educational Network it will play an important role in the future teacher education. However, the distance education program needs to be put on a much firmer footing. It cannot rely so heavily on the individual work of faculty members. The College should play a leading role in our recommended national approach to distance education, but this requires the appropriate level of co-ordination and support.

KHÍ is also making an effort to incorporate information technology into teacher education. They have recently reintroduced a course in this area into the core curriculum. Many staff members have become acquainted with computer technology through delivering their courses in the distance education program and this is a great help in the groundwork of building up the necessary experience and expertise among the faculty members. Obviously the computer services in the college benefit from running the Icelandic Educational Network. As far as the PRG has been able to observe, the activities of the college in this field look good and their plans are promising.

Related to the many short courses, students have too many assignments to complete which results in lower quality work and a lack of in-depth study (and may, paradoxically, also lead to higher grades).

Students should have some opportunity to be introduced to science areas in the first year of the B.Ed., and be given additional support if they choose to specialise in science. Here is an area for collaboration between KHÍ and HÍ.

Instructional Methods - Practice Teaching: Technology is receiving more priority and many courses have recently been revised.

External Assessment of Teacher Education in Iceland 1998 - 22 -

Even though some improvements have been made, there is still a serious problem of too many short courses, overload on students and staff and lack of coherence in the program.

Both students and teachers claim that more practice teaching and visits to and from the field are needed.

The KHÍ needs to find a way to have fewer and more substantial courses. The PRG recommends that as a minimum all courses should be at least two credits. This might also create more time for research.

Students, Management, External Relation: Students in the B.Ed. program complained that they did not understand the process of admission. KHÍ needs to give clearer direction to students on admissions. It is currently turning away students who then enrol in programs that may not be of real interest to them (e.g. B.A.programs at HÍ) to improve their qualifications for admission at KHÍ. This does not seem to be a sound policy.

The institution should make greater efforts to match its admissions criteria to the actual need for teachers in various subjects. Thus students from a science class in the 14th grade, e.g., are more likely to specialise in the teaching of mathematics and science and should therefore be given some preference.

It could be worthwhile to re-examine the policy on 80% attendance of classes, especially in relation to many short courses. Student independence in learning should be encouraged. Students said they were not clear on what the attendance policy was in various courses.

As stated in the report and during the visits the internal flow of information needs attention, e.g. from the administration to staff and students. Semester surveys need to be organised and used in a more effective way.

It is necessary to make sure the staff includes academics but the college also needs people with strong links to the elementary and secondary schools. The college should not have a policy of hiring only applicants with doctorate degrees unless strong links to the schools can be maintained.

The institution needs even more links with schools and educational organisations.

External Assessment of Teacher Education in Iceland 1998 - 23 -

Facilities: The KHÍ has a very good library, support service and teaching centre for students and staff. Even though the library facilities are packed and could use more space, students and staff members were satisfied with the service they receive. The Teaching Centre is situated at a fair distance from the college and is not used as much as it should be. More space for the library and combining these facilities would clearly increase their effective use.

Facilities will need to be re-examined in the light of the merger and possible increases in the number of students so that there is adequate space for independent work as well as for classes and for study.

The Educational Science Program: The Ed Sc. program consists of 60 credits divided into two parts. Study in part one is a 30 credit part-time study program ending with a diploma. Part two, also organised as a 30 credit part-time study program, includes courses and an M.Ed. dissertation. The program has partly been organised as a distance learning program.

As there is not much information on the program in the reports and surveys the PRG found it hard to evaluate. It would be worthwhile to focus on it in a special evaluation.

The students at the meetings stressed the importance of being able to take a masters degree in Iceland at the KHÍ instead of having to study overseas. The PRG is also of the view that Iceland both needs and can support a graduate program in education.

Students wanted the teachers to organise the workload better. Some of them wanted to make more use of the summer time and stressed the importance of having access to the library in the summer time as well. They also wanted more group work and better organised preparation for the student research work.

As mentioned earlier7 in this report students in all institutions complain about the lack of relevant Icelandic casework in their material. The Ed.Sc. program is an important platform for increasing research based courses and relevant material on Icelandic conditions.

7 p. 15

External Assessment of Teacher Education in Iceland 1998 - 24 -

4.4 University of Akureyri (HA) The University of Akureyri is the youngest of the three institutions. It started in 1987 with industrial administration- and nursing faculties. The Faculty of Education began operation in the fall of 1993 with the B.Ed. Program. The Faculty of Education now consists of three programs: the Compulsory School Program (B.Ed.), the Teaching Certification Program and the Pre-school Program (which is not included in this evaluation).

The Compulsory School Program is a three year program (90 units) and has only twice graduated students since it started, with around 24 students graduating each year. In this program the Faculty has a special focus on science and small rural schools as well as a different approach to practice teaching.

The Teaching Certification Program is a two year program (30 units) aimed at 8-14th grade school teachers already teaching subjects but without teaching qualifications. The program started in 1994, and in 1996 the first 42 students graduated. It is operated on an ad hoc basis. The second program started in fall 1997 and will finish in 1999.

The PRG read the self-evaluation reports and met with administration, staff and students8 according to plans9. The meetings took place at HA on the 15th and 16th of January 1998. Generally, the PRG found many positive things in the Faculty of Education. For example the practice teaching seemed to be very well thought out and the emphasis on small rural schools and science teaching gives a distinct identity. However, the PRG mainly focuses on issues that need attention and this understates the many worthwhile initiatives it found within the institution.

The Self-Evaluation Report: As the PRG discovered at the meeting with the self-evaluation group, the report was made in a hurry at a very inconvenient time for the University. For the PRG group the report left many questions unanswered, e.g. about the content of instruction and instructional methods.

The report was more descriptive than analytic. There were many very useful appendices even though they were not all referred to in the report. There was no plan of future development or direction in the report.

8 Appendix VI - attendance list at HA

9 Appendix VII - meetings agenda at HA

External Assessment of Teacher Education in Iceland 1998 - 25 -

Main Findings: It is necessary to take into account that this is a new, developing institution.

Low enrolment and high drop-out rate in the B.Ed. program is a real concern. If the program maintains its focus on science (which the PRG supports) they need to provide more support to students to help them succeed. Since there are many more applicants to KHÍ than are accepted, and since HA is quite distinctive, the PRG encourages HA to be more active in publicising their program as an alternative.

The PRG questions whether there should not be greater attention paid to the certification program. To free resources for this purpose the University might admit students to the B.Ed. every other year. This needs to be discussed through the co- ordinating body mentioned earlier10 and with the Ministry. If the certification program remains an occasional or an ad-hoc program the quality will not be the same as it would be in an annual program.

It is especially important to maintain the active link to small schools.

Policy, Objectives, Content of Study Program: Objectives are clear, specific, and closely tied to the program. The PRG supports the emphasis on small schools and on science education and encourages the faculty to continue to develop a distinctive identity with even more emphasis on small schools. It also supports their attempt to integrate a more philosophical approach into teacher education.

HA is particularly concerned with educating teachers in mathematics and sciences. There are few students within this field but still a significant proportion of each year´s class. The teachers in the faculty consider this to be a result of special introduction to science for all students in the first year of the B.Ed. program. Facilities for science instruction are gradually being developed but still need improvement.

Instructional Methods - Practice Teaching: Students were generally quite happy about their studies and the structure of the practice teaching. The practice teaching is conducted in a different way from HÍ and KHÍ. In the Compulsory School Program there are short visits to the schools during the first two years but in the fall term of the third year the students take nine weeks of on-site

10 pp. 10-11

External Assessment of Teacher Education in Iceland 1998 - 26 - study and 5 weeks of practice teaching. This is mainly conducted in the same school and under the supervision of the same host teacher most of the time.

The PRG found the whole structure of the practice teaching to be very well thought out and likely to meet its objectives.

Facilities and Administration: If the program hires only specialists it will be harder to have a coherent program as a whole. The PRG found that there are already signs of different opinion about direction and emphasis among faculty members. Use of part-time teachers from the schools to staff part of the program is desirable and provides links to the field.

There are problems with the facilities that will be resolved when the new campus is constructed.

The methods for instructor evaluation have been ineffective and need to be improved.

The program and the University should have more autonomy in hiring staff.

Computer facilities need improvement - students and staff reported serious problems lately.

Library facilities and service are very good. However the collection is still inadequate to support a wide range of research and the University may need to reconsider the degree to which they can support a wide range of research projects.

External Assessment of Teacher Education in Iceland 1998 - 27 -

5.0 Answers to Questions Posed by the Ministry

1. Is the relative weighting of pedagogical subjects and areas of specialisation in the curriculum for teacher education appropriate?

Answer: This is a complex question, much of which is addressed earlier in this report. The balance here depends on the level at which a teacher is working, and there is also a balance between subject knowledge and knowledge about teaching the subject. There are different views on this question in the three institutions. There is no single correct answer to this question - the balance must depend on the situation of the teacher, and given that teachers move from one level to another or one subject to another, this cannot be entirely specified in initial teacher education.

2. Does teacher education take adequate account of the National Curriculum for compulsory and upper secondary schools?

Answer: The programs in all institutions pay attention to the National Curriculum. Connections between the National Curriculum Guide and the programs were not clear, but students, who were asked, knew the National Curriculum Guide in their special subjects. The students also pointed out that it seemed to be of little use, as teaching in the primary and secondary schools was not based on the formal Curriculum but rather on the available teaching material and the text books. These remarks lead the PRG to the question: − To what extent is the National Curriculum Guide a steering tool in Icelandic schools? − Will the new National Curriculum Guide be a more effective steering tool for Icelandic schools?

As stated earlier , there is a lack of research and available information about conditions in Icelandic schools. It is clear though, that the relations between the needs of the schools and the main focus of teacher education institutions can never be too close.

3. Are the teacher education institutions prepared to adapt to changes in the curriculum for compulsory and upper secondary schools?

Answer: In some respects the institutions do this well, in others not so well. Much depends on the curriculum process itself - whether new curricula are implemented in an

External Assessment of Teacher Education in Iceland 1998 - 28 - effective way with good support to teachers and schools. It takes time to implement a new curricula. Teachers need good support materials, a chance to work with the new program and to learn how to use it effectively, and support in learning new skills and approaches. As noted earlier, curriculum changes in the future cannot be anticipated in initial teacher education, so once again a strong program of continuing education is needed. The more complex and specialised the institution and the program structure, the harder it will be to adjust to new curricula.

4. Should an external party, for example a special council, decide on, or co- ordinate demands for, the curriculum for teacher education?

Answer: See our recommendation on co-ordination above11. We do not believe that curriculum in teacher education should be imposed from outside the institutions but we do believe that the institutions need to work together and also to involve others in this process much more than has been the case. The teacher education institutions in Iceland need to pay more attention to the issue of how they can improve their programs in order to serve the schools in a better way than they do today and to meet the schools’ special needs.

5. How well do teacher education institutions respond to the needs of compulsory and upper-secondary schools? Does the organisation and structure of electives reflect these needs? How about student intake?

Answer: This question is considered throughout our report. There are clearly some areas in which there are unmet needs, such as teachers in science and mathematics, but as we have already noted, these are by no means problems of teacher education alone and cannot be solved by the institutions themselves. Since the committee had no data on the demand or need for teachers, we can only judge by what we were told which is that the total supply of new qualified teachers is quite inadequate to meet the total demand.

6. Should any subject area be more strongly emphasised in the curriculum (for example computers and information technology?)

Answer: Computers and information technology are permeating society and this is going to be increasingly reflected in the classroom. There is great interest among the

11 p. 10

External Assessment of Teacher Education in Iceland 1998 - 29 - general public in Iceland in introducing computer equipment in the schools, and this interest in school development is in itself very positive. This is a welcome opportunity for the schools and of course they should seize it and use it in their favour. What determines the outcome, however, is not the technology per se, but how this equipment is utilised to reach educational goals. Here the most important factor is the know-how of the teachers and the support they get, pedagogical as well as technical and administrative.

Another limiting factor of course is the scarcity of educational software in the Icelandic language. The expenditures to alleviate that problem would be quite substantial. In fact much larger nations are complaining about insufficient budgets for the development of educational software. It should be stressed that this is a central cultural issue, rather than a technical one.

It is important that the teacher training colleges prepare future teachers for the effective use of information technology in the classroom. The most important point is not the number of credits for special courses in information technology, but rather to what degree the information technology is used in the study as a whole. The Icelandic institutions are definitely making an effort to work towards this goal and more investment in necessary equipment and above all professional development for their staff members is likely to give good return.

In the survey of principals in elementary schools, conducted by the steering committee, there were around 30% who answered that computer knowledge of graduates were insufficient. In all institutions there are plans for more emphasis in this field. The survey also revealed that some principals believe that graduates should know more about the actual conditions of work in schools when they start teaching. That would lead to more emphasis on practice teaching and field studies. (Attention: The survey may not be reliable because of a small sample).

As mentioned earlier, all institutions were more concerned about the present than having a clear sense of the future and how they might educate teachers for the 21st century. According to some futuristic views the most important skills in the 21st century will be: information skills, communication skills, creative thinking skills, critical thinking, ability to solve problems that computers cannot solve, interpersonal skills, international skills. There was not much about these "subjects" to be found in the reports or at the visits.

External Assessment of Teacher Education in Iceland 1998 - 30 -

7. Should the length of the B.Ed. program be maintained at three years as it is or should it be extended?

Answer: Our views on the B.Ed. program are mentioned earlier12. We prefer to develop a strong program of continuing education rather than a longer period of initial teacher education. The transition from college to schools causes problems to a great number of candidates. Therefore we suggest that in the first year of teaching, after graduating from college, teachers should be provided with tutor guidance. We are, however, not proposing an internship year.

All of this does not mean that the PRG wants to question the importance of good initial teacher education, or weaken the present teacher education programs in Iceland by transferring money from the one field to the other. To prevent any misunderstanding, the PRG wants to underline that the main concern is that the country both needs to improve the initial teacher education program and take steps to establish a well organised system of life long learning in the schools.

8. Is the degree of specialisation in teacher education appropriate with regard to the following: a) the number of subjects taught? b) the number of electives/areas of specialisation? c) the age-classes of students in compulsory education? d) interdisciplinary work?

Answer: Many of the issues posed by this question are discussed earlier in the report. One of the main conclusions in this report is the emphasis on continuing education and lifelong learning. As times are changing and will continue to change, specialisation will also change. An extensive in-service program, which can admit everyone with the required qualifications, can add to the specialisation of the initial education.

Quite obviously mere 15 credits in a subject at KHÍ give very limited preparation for teaching in the 8th - 10th grade. This can be compared to 30-60 credits for graduates from HÍ who may be teaching the same subject. It is very desirable to define how a B.Ed. graduate could specialise further in his subjects, e.g. by taking a selection of

12 pp. 7 and 9

External Assessment of Teacher Education in Iceland 1998 - 31 - additional courses at any of the three institutions. Such additional studies, e.g of. 30 additional credits in 1 or 2 subjects might actually constitute a formal degree. In this way it would be possible to simultaneously serve the needs of students in initial training and teachers in the field, without requiring that all future teachers spend an extra year in initial training.

9. Should the program towards teachers´ certificate for upper secondary-school teachers be changed so that a greater part of the studies is conducted parallel to studies for the bachelor degree?

Answer: Co-operation between the certification program and the academic departments is a significant problem at the University of Iceland, as the Education Department there readily agrees. We would encourage both universities to consider the possibilities of some kind of concurrent program that would encourage students in high demand subject areas to consider a career in teaching at an earlier stage. For example, it is possible according to the syllabus, to admit people to the certification program after 60 units of study on the understanding that they could complete the additional 30 units and their certification program over the next two years. As the University cannot at present accept all qualified candidates for certification, it is clear that this is not feasible until the situation has been improved.

10. Should a master´s degree be established as a prerequisite for teachers certificates for upper-secondary school teachers?

Answer: Given the current problems with finding enough teachers with appropriate training at the bachelor level, it seems quite impossible at this point that a master’s degree can be a prerequisite for teaching. There would simply not be anywhere near enough qualified teachers, especially given the basic salaries for teachers.

External Assessment of Teacher Education in Iceland 1998 - 32 -

6.0 Summary of Findings This section is a summary of the report by the Peer Review Group on its external assessment of teacher education in Iceland, which was conducted in January 1998.

Main issues referred to in the assessment were: vision for the future, objectives and their link to program and instruction, practice teaching, distance education, students, external relations, continuing education and research. The main findings to the questions and issues are presented throughout the report. These are the concluding remarks:

The most important issues are national in scope rather than institutional. There are a number of features of education in Iceland that affect teacher education in important ways: − A long period in secondary schooling, 1-2 years longer than in most countries, − teachers are poorly paid, and many teachers are without formal qualifications, − the current program of continuing education is not sufficient, − there are many small and rural schools requiring a broad range of teaching skills, − the education system is quite decentralised that makes it harder to develop and operate national programs and policies.

Many positive things are happening in all three institutions involved in the assessment and the PRG found much enthusiasm and hard working people within the field of education but the focus of the report is on issues that need attention:

− There is a tendency for the institutions to be more involved with day-to-day issues than in planning for the future. Long-term development planning should be encouraged.

− There is a need to develop a well considered rationale which could contribute to a coherent teacher education being able to meet the present and the future needs in schools.

− The main need in teacher education in Iceland is to work towards a more systematic initial education based on a clear and considered rationale. The initial training should be developed in such a way that it could form a solid base for further development according to the principles of life long learning and development, on- site and distance, throughout the country.

External Assessment of Teacher Education in Iceland 1998 - 33 -

− Co-operation and collaboration between the institutions should be stronger and perhaps put on a more formal basis. All three institutions must have an ongoing process of working together to meet the nation’s needs in the most effective way. This collaboration must also involve key people beyond the three institutions, such as teacher unions and representatives of 1-14th grade level schools.

− Connections with other groups, such as schools and teacher unions should be strengthened. This would also lead to further development of host teachers and of the purpose and planning of practice teaching.

− There is a need for stronger overall plan in relation to the numbers of new teachers needed in the country as well as the ongoing development of teachers in schools. These plans should include statistics about the Icelandic school system, such as the projected demand for teachers and the number of uncertified teachers.

− There is a need to view teacher education in a wider context - continuing education should be emphasised though not at the expense of pre-service education. This view also leads to considering in-school support after training, strengthening of distance education and increasing certification programs for untrained teachers.

− There is a need to address the role and conditions of research and strengthen the connection between research, instruction and student projects. Many staff members do not have time for research and students complain that there are too few Icelandic examples of research from which they could learn.

− Salary conditions lead to too much direct teaching and too little independent or guided study by students.

− Some subjects need special attention in course planning and admissions policy: for example, there is a need to increase the number of trained science and mathematics teachers.

− Information technology should be part of all training, pre-service, in-service and staff development within the colleges themselves.

External Assessment of Teacher Education in Iceland 1998 - 34 -

7.0 Documents Read by the PRG

From HA Sjálfsmat. Uppeldis- og kennslufræði til kennsluréttinda. Nóvember 1997. Akureyri, Háskólinn á Akureyri. Sjálfsmat. Grunnskólabraut. Nóvember 1997. Akureyri, Háskólinn á Akureyri. Sjálfsmat kennaradeildar Háskólans á Akureyri 1997. Mappa með fylgiskjölum. Self-Evaluation. Compulsory school programme. University of Akureyri. [An abbreviated translation] Self-Evaluation. Teaching certification programme. University of Akureyri. [An abbreviated translation]

From HÍ Innra mat á námi í kennslufræði til kennsluréttinda Háskóla Íslands. 1996. Reykjavík, Háskóli Íslands. Innra mat á námi í kennslufræði til kennsluréttinda Háskóla Íslands. Viðbótarskýrsla. 1997. Reykjavík, Háskóli Íslands. Kennslufræði til kennsluréttinda við H.Í. Viðhorf nema og mat þeirra á náminu.. 1996. Reykjavík, Háskóli Íslands. Evaluation of the Teaching Certification Programme. 1996. Reykjavík, University of Iceland. Internal Evaluation of the Teaching Certification Programme. Supplementary Report. 1997. Reykjavík, University of Iceland. (Sjálfsmat í íslenskuskor, líffræðiskor og stærðfræðiskor. Janúar 1998. Reykjavík, Háskóli Íslands.)

From KHÍ Kennaraháskóli Íslands. Skýrsla um sjálfsmat. Nóvember 1997. Kennaraháskóli Íslands, Reykjavík. Kennaraháskóli Íslands. Skýrsla um sjálfsmat. Fylgiskjöl. Nóvember 1997. Kennaraháskóli Íslands, Reykjavík. University College of Education. Self-Evaluation Report. 1997. Reykjavík, University College of Education [An abbreviated translation]

From the Steering Committee Guidelines for the External assessment by the Peer Review Group (PRG). 1997. Umsjónarhópur vegna mats á kennaramenntun.

External Assessment of Teacher Education in Iceland 1998 - 35 -

Könnun meðal skólastjórnenda í grunnskólum.. 1997. (Spurningalistar og SPSS útprentanir). Könnun meðal skólameistara í framhaldsskólum.. 1997. (Spurningalistar og SPSS útprentanir). Skýrsla samstarfsnefndar Háskólans á Akureyri, Háskóla Íslands og Kennaraháskólans um kennaramenntun. Júlí 1997. Spurningalisti fyrir nemendur útskrifaða úr kennsluréttindanámi. Ágúst 1997. Umsjónarhópur vegna mats á kennaramenntun. Spurningalisti fyrir nemendur útskrifaða úr B.Ed. námi. Ágúst 1997. Umsjónarhópur vegna mats á kennaramenntun.

External Assessment of Teacher Education in Iceland 1998 - 36 -

Appendix I

Guidelines for the External assessment by the Peer Review Group (PRG)

This text is based on the Guidelines for European Pilot Projects for Evaluating Quality in Higher Education, published by the European Commission in 1994 with some amendments.

The process for the evaluation is that each institution first completes a self-evaluation report, after which the external team of experts visits the department faculty or school. In general the assignments of the Peer Review Group (PRG) are the following:

• The group has to form an opinion on the basis of information supplied by the department/faculty and by means of discussions held on the site about the quality of education and the quality of the educational process, including the organization of education and the standard of the graduates. In making its evaluation, the PRG will take account, as far as possible, of the expectations of the students and of society, especially prospective employers. • The group has to form an opinion on the relationships between the departments and their university, and to consider the link to research conducted in the institution. • The group has to make recommendations on improving the quality of teaching in the department/faculty concerned.

I. The Members of the Peer Review Group • The chairperson may be considered as primus inter pares and has no connection with the establishment to be visited. This person should have experience of management of universities or other higher education institutions and a good knowledge of the evolutions in higher education that have taken place in the last few years; • two experts from the academic field; • an expert from the employment area taking up graduates and/or from the professional associations; • one independent expert from higher education institution; • one of the group members serves as a secretary who will be responsible for organizing the work of the PRG and preparing its report.

The Peer Review Group is appointed by the Steering Group.

II. The Preparation of the Site-Visit The majority of the experts appointed to the peer review group will not have extensive experience in quality assessment. The task is a difficult one, and it demands a considerable amount of work. These guidelines are intended to serve two purposes: one, to help the experts and lighten their work-load; two, to ensure the relative homogeneity of the assessments by providing some points to be considered and the criteria to be used in making the evaluations. The process described in these guidelines is outlined step by step; however, it is meant to guide the committee in its work and not to limit it.

External Assessment of Teacher Education in Iceland 1998 - 37 -

II.1 Verification and comments on the self-assessment report The task of the PRG is to verify and to comment on the self-assessment report, as well as to respond to the questions raised by the report and during the site visit. It is very important to study the self-evalation reports carefully before the committee comes together for its meetings. The comments should focus on the following questions:

• Is the report sufficiently critical and analytical? • Are the strengths and weaknesses clearly presented? • Is any information missing?

Previous experience has shown that these elements are often lacking in the self- evaluation reports. In examining the reports with these questions in mind the PRG is not to tie itself to a final judgement. This is only a first impression, based on written information. During the following discussion and the site-visits there will be time to form a more considered opinon.

Each member of the PRG is requested to send his/her comments on the self assessment report to the secretary of the group by January 8th. For a first meeting the secretary will summarize the comments of all PRG members, and make a first draft sketch of each faculty, summarizing quantitative data and the principle characteristics, based on the self- assessment. In addition she will formulate a draft version of the terms of reference for the site-visits for discussion at the preparatory meeting.

II.2 The Formulation of the Terms of Reference Every expert has implicit ideas about the quality of a curriculum or the qualities of the graduates. Individual terms of reference will also differ because of the different backgrounds and different experiences of the members of the group. Therefore, it may be that one of the first tasks in the meetings of the PRG is to make the implicit opinions explicit and to formulate terms of reference, acceptable for all committee members, which will provide the framework for them as a group to assess the department/ faculty.

In defining their terms of reference, a PRG should always keep in mind that the aims and objectives as formulated by the department have to be the starting point for the assessment by the committee. It is not the intention to impose a criteria and standards from outside, for example from professional body. However, the PRG must verify that the aims and objectives proposed by the department are sufficiently clear, complete and academically rigorous.

During the preparatory meeting the PRG will: • discuss the self-assessment report, • come to an agreement on the terms of reference, • decide on the ways of work for the committee so that the same working method will be used in each of the three departments.

II.3 Topics Arising for Discussion During the meeting, certain topics concerning the frame of reference will probably be brought up. One of the basic problem is how to assess the quality of education or what the is PRG looking for? This involves four questions:

External Assessment of Teacher Education in Iceland 1998 - 38 -

• Are the goals and aims clearly formulated? • How are these translated in the curricula? • Do the student assessments and the exams reflect the content of the programmes and courses? • Does a graduate really have the expected knowledge, skills and attitudes?

These factors defining quality are further formulated in the following figure:

State Translation of Reflections of The graduate: d goals/aims in curricula programme what did he/she goals _ _ contents in the _ acquire with and examinations and regard to: aims the design work a) knowledge b) skills c) attitudes?

Quality is a concept which can be interpreted in many ways. We cannot speak about the quality, we have to speak about qualities or aspects of quality. The consequence is that a PRG has to look for the requirements of the different stakeholders: the students, the academic world, the employers, the government, and the society-at-large. This is difficult to judge at first, without spending a great deal of time in lectures and seminars; that is not the role of the PRG. Indirectly, an opinion can be formed by drawing on the comments of students with respect to the educational provision, the extent to which the lecturers are able to receive didactic training, and the extent to which didactic qualities are taken into account in the appointment and promotion of staff. These are subject to review by the staff and students.

The quality of the educational programmes is further determined by the content and the level of the subject matter taught. The content is again strongly dependent on the objectives and the manner in which these are translated into final student assignments. To a certain extent, the course description gives some insight into the course content. Questions which can be asked concerning this are related to the consistency of the programmes and the underlying philosophy.

The teachers’ training programmes are professional programmes and therefore the PRG should expect the self-assessment report to answer questions like: Are the elements necessary for practice in the professional field included? Does the content of the educational programmes satisfy the requirements of employers or of the profession? For the master programme in education, which is more academic in nature, answers expected would be more like: Does the programme conform with recent developments in the discipline? Is it of sufficient academic level?

The given restraints and educational policy also determine the quality of the educational programme. What are the conditions under which the degree programme must give shape to the educational process? What is the relationship between teaching and research? What is the situation concerning the study load? What policy is followed with respect to education? An important aspect of educational organization and management is the structural quality control. In what ways are these attended to? What is done as a result of evaluations?

External Assessment of Teacher Education in Iceland 1998 - 39 -

II.4 The relationship between education and research The main emphasis of this evaluation is on education. Nonetheless, the link between teaching and research is characteristic for a university, thus the educational quality cannot be assessed without taking this link into account. Questions like: “In which way do students come into contact with research? What role does research play in the programmes?” cannot be avoided and must be answered during the assessment. The assessment of research projects or research programmes as such is not part of the terms of reference of the PRG.

III The Site-Visits The Steering Group has already made a draft programme for the site-visits. On behalf of the PRG the secretary can, in consultation with the department/faculty in question, finalise the schedule.

The schedule for each institution includes the following:

1. First meeting with the university authorities The visits start with an introductory meeting with the president (vice-chancellor) of the institution and senior members of the administration. During this meeting the mandate and objectives of the PRG should be presented.

2. Meeting with the self-assessment group During this meeting the PRG can inquire about points made in the self-evaluation reports and ask for clarification and explanation.

3. Meeting with representatives of the student body The departments have been instructed to choose students at random, three from each cohort. In the case of the teacher certification programmes graduates from last year cohorts are also included. The students are a very rich source of information, but the information needs to be compared against the ideas of the staff members. The student interviews are important in getting insight into the work load, the didactic qualifications of the staff, the coherence of the programme, whether they are they acquianted with the goals and aims of the curricula, and the organization of the curricula and the facilities. The interviews with the students should be held in the absence of staff members so that the students may speak freely.

4. Meeting with staff members other than the self-assessment group The meeting with the staff have been divided into two sessions, one with permanent members of the teaching staff, who are not members of the self-assessment group, and second with instructors or temporary members of the teaching staff. These meetings will be used for a discussion on the content of the curricula, the aims and objectives. Other topics to be discussed are: the manner of student assessment, examinations, student- work, research projects etc.

5. Looking at the facilities

External Assessment of Teacher Education in Iceland 1998 - 40 -

A part of the programme is dedicated to looking at the facilities: lecture halls, working group rooms, laboratories, practical rooms, libraries etc. For the visit of the facilities the PRG can be split up in small groups.

6. Final meeting with the university authorities The visit concludes with a discussion between the PRG and the those representatives of the University authorities, who participated in the first interview. It may be the case that the PRG find it relevant at this time to present its first and preliminary impressions. In that case the PRG should have the occasion to discuss the main elements of its findings. It is at this point in the evaluation that the PRG can have a personalized discussion about a number of things, since the public report will not include any of the elements involving individuals.

It is useful for the PRG group to spend some time at end of each day to formulate the findings. The group will also be able to spend time together on Saturday after the visits in order to sum up for the report.

IV. The Report After the visit of a department, the secretary will write a first draft of each department, drawing on team members comments and minutes of the meetings. The secretary will use a format for the department report that is compatible with the format and structure of the guidelines for the self-assessment. The draft versions of the report will be distributed among the members of the PRG for additions and comments. The final version will then be sent to the institutions for clarification of factual errors. The PRG will decide what to do with the department comments.

The final report of the PRG will be presented to the Steering Group, which will present it along with additional comments to the Minister of Education, Science and Culture.

Following is a suggestion of a format for the report of the PRG that is based on the items of the Guidelines for Self-assessment. The group may choose to structure its report in a different way, combine some items, omit others or include new ones.

1. Introduction • the committee • terms of reference • working method • short evaluation of the review

2. Policy and objectives • Official objectives • Policy and objectives of instructors’ research • Connections between research and scholarship of permanent faculty and instruction • Policy concerning on-the-job training of students • Policy on the relative weighting within the study programme • Policy formulation, setting objectives and monitoring

External Assessment of Teacher Education in Iceland 1998 - 41 -

3. Content and processes of study programme • Connection between objectives and courses • Relative emphasis on Icelandic and foreign instructional materials • Influence of the National Curriculum Guide on content of the programme

4. Instruction and instructional methods • Organisation of the programme and responsibility for instruction • Instructional methods • Support for students • Connection between regular instruction and practice teaching

5. On-site study and practice teaching • Duration and placement in the programme • Student preparation • Preparation of tutors and teachers supervising students in practice teaching • Students’ assignments • Organisation, responsibility and supervision, tutoring and counselling • Connections to other studies • Student evaluation • Supply of schools

6. Student assessment • Frequency of exams • Responsibility for examination content and standards • Connections between student evaluation and objectives

7. The student body • Student numbers • Admission requirements and selection of students for admission • Drop-out and completion rates • Achievement

8. Staff and management of human resources • Staffing: number and composition • Teaching responsibility • Division of responsibilities between research, administration and teaching • Personnel management

9. Facilities • Budget and sources of funding • Infrastructural support • Lecture halls, laboratories, libraries, computer rooms etc.

10. Administration and quality management • Administrative efficiency • Internal quality assessment

External Assessment of Teacher Education in Iceland 1998 - 42 -

• Procedures for innovation of curriculum

11. Research and development work • Connections between research and development work and instruction and student projects • Co-ordination of projects and co-operation on research • Financing of research

12. External relations • Contacts with private, public and professional bodies • Consultation with external parties concerning new programme offerings • Contacts with other institutions of higher education nationally and abroad • Participation in exchange programmes • Connections with schools concerning students seeking employment

13. Summary of findings • Main conclusions and recommendation

V. Comments on the context for the evaluation project In recent months the political and public debate on teacher education has focused on some issues that define the wider context for this evaluation project. Even though the main focus of the evaluation is on processes within the institutions as formulated in the self-evaluation reports it is necessary take the wider issues into account. Some of the major events and issues concerning teachers’ education in Iceland these days are the following: - A new law on the University College of Education, that allows for the merging of three colleges with the existing University College of Education was recently passed by the Parlament. The law comes into effect the 1st of January 1998, but the teaching according to a co-ordinated curriculum will start in the fall of 1998. - A joint committee of the University of Iceland, University of Akureyri and University College of Education recently published proposals for the future organization of teachers’ education. The proposals include e.g.: the extension of studies towards the BEd. degree to four years, more specialization within teachers’ education e.g. with regard to the age of students in compulsory education, one trial year of teaching for teachers before certification, a master degree in specialized subject be made prerequisite for upper-secondary school teachers. - The National Curriculum Guidelines for compulsory and upper-secondary school levels are currently under revision. Changes in the National Curriculum will affect demands made to teachers’ education in the future. - The results from the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) that invoked great debate in Iceland on how to react to the country’s poor results in the study. Demands are therefore being made that teachers’ should be changed in order to revise and strengthen teaching in this area.

External Assessment of Teacher Education in Iceland 1998 - 43 -

Taking these events and issues into account the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture and the Steering Group have decided to ask the external review team to address the following questions that concern the main issues that have been prevalent in the ongoing debate about teacher education.

1) Is the relative weighting and the relation between pedagogical subjects and areas of specialization in the curriculum for teachers’ education appropriate? 2) Does teacher education take adequate account of the National Curriculum for compulsory and upper secondary schools? 3) Are the teacher education institutions prepared to adapt to changes in the curriculum for compulsory and upper secondary schools? 4) Should an external party, e.g. a special council, decide on, or co-ordinate demands for, the curriculum for teacher education. 5) How well do teacher education institutions respond to the needs of compulsory and upper-secondary schools? Does organization and structure of electives reflect these needs? How about student intake? 6) Should any subject areas be more strongly emphasized in the curriculum (e.g. computers and information technology?) 7) Should the length of the BEd. programme be maintained at three years as it is or should it be extended? 8) Is the degree of specialization in teacher education appropriate with regard to the following: a) the number of subjects taught, b) the number of electives/areas of specialization, c) the age-classes of students in compulsory education, d) interdisciplinary work. 9) Should the program towards teachers’ certificate for upper-secondary school teachers be changed so that the greater part of the studies are conducted parallel to the studies for the bachelor degree? 10) Should master’s education in specialized subject be established as a prerequisite for teachers’ certificate for upper-secondary school teachers?

External Assessment of Teacher Education in Iceland 1998 - 44 -

Appendix II Attendance List at University of Iceland

Háskóli Íslands Mánudagurinn 12. janúar 1998 kl. 9:30 - 11:00

Hafdís Ingvarsdóttir Sigrún Aðalbjarnardóttir Jón Torfi Jónasson Guðrún Geirsdóttir

Fundur með núverandi nemendum kl. 11:00 - 12:00

Ásgerður Bergsdóttir Sigurður Stefán Haraldsson Íris O. Lúðvíksdóttir Þórunn Björk Sigurbjörnsdóttir

Fundur með útskrifuðum nemendum kl. 13:30 - 14:00

Þórarinn Stefánsson efnafræði Hildur Gróa Gunnarsdóttir íslenska Þorgerður Aðalgeirsdóttir þýska Guðbjörg Daníelsdóttir sálfræði

Fundur með stundakennurum kl. 14:00 - 14:30

Margrét Jónsdóttir Sigurlína Davíðsdóttir G.S.

External Assessment of Teacher Education in Iceland 1998 - 45 -

Appendix III Meetings agenda at University of Iceland

Mat á kennaramenntun Dagskrá heimsóknar ytri matshóps 12.-16. Janúar 1998

Háskóli Íslands

Mánudagur 12. janúar

09:00-09:30 Fundur með yfirstjórn Rektor Framkvæmdastjóri kennslusviðs Framkvæmdastjóri rannsóknarsviðs

9:30-11:00 Fyrri fundur með fastráðnum kennurum í Kennslufræði til kennsluréttinda Hafdís Ingvarsdóttir Jón Torfi Jónasson Sigrún Aðalbjarnardóttir Guðrún Geirsdóttir

11:00-12:00 Fundur með nemendum Þrír núverandi nemendur og þrír er luku námi á síðasta vori úr ólíkum faggreinum, valdir af handahófi

12:00-13:00 Matarhlé

13:00-14:00 Fundur með stundakennurum 3-4 stundakennarar sem hafa mestu kennslu á hendi

14:00-14:30 Síðari fundur með fastráðnum kennurum.

14:30-15:30 Aðstaða skoðuð

15:30-16:00 Lokafundur með rektor

External Assessment of Teacher Education in Iceland 1998 - 46 -

Appendix IV Attendance list at University College of Education

Kennaraháskóli Íslands Fundur með skorarstjórum fyrir almennt kennaranám BEd. 1998

Auður Torfadóttir dósent í ensku 6. misseri Stefán Bergmann dósent í líffræði 1. misseri Þóra Kristinsdóttir dósent, sérþarfir/sérkennsla 3 + 4 misseri Guðbjörg Inga Guðmundsdóttir nemenda í KHÍ 2. bekk Ingibjörg S. Frímannsdóttir stundakennari 2. misseri Karl Jeppesen fjarkennsla Ólafur H. Jóhannsson deildarstjóri

Fundur með fulltrúum nemenda B.I. 1998

Ingibjörg Ýr Pálmadóttir 3. árgangur Ásta Sölvadóttir 3. “ Áslaug Björnsdóttir 2. “ Ólöf Dagfinnsdóttir 3. “ Jóna S. Sigurðardóttir 1. “ Júlía Ágústsdóttir 2. “ Hálfdán Þorsteinsson 2. “ Íris Lind Sævarsdóttir 1. “ Kristvina Gísladóttir 1. “

Fundur með kennurum í uppeldis- og valgreinum

Anna Kristjánsdóttir prófessor Haukur Arason lektor Árni G. Stefánsson lektor Jón Reykdal stundakennari Þórey Guðmundsdóttir lektor Anna Guðmundsdóttir lektor Ingvar Sigurgeirsson dósent Gunnar J. Gunnarsson lektor Ragnhildur bjarnadóttir lektor Kristín Halla Jónsdóttir dósent Friðrik Diego fastur stundakennari

External Assessment of Teacher Education in Iceland 1998 - 47 -

14. janúar 1998. Fundur með valgreinakennurum KHÍ

Stefán Bergmann líffræði Salvör Gissurardóttir upplýsingatækni og tölvunotkun í námi og kennslu Sigurjón Mýrdal uppeldisgreinar Loftur Guttormsson sagnfræði/uppeldissaga Gísli Þorsteinsson smíðaval Bragi Jósepsson uppeldisfræði Hallfríður Tryggvadóttir textildeild NN textilnemendi NN textilnemendi Eysteinn Þorvarðarson íslenska Sigurður Konráðsson íslenska Brynhildur Briem heimilisfræði Páll Ólafsson umsjónarmaður æfingakennslu Ásrún Tryggvadóttir listmenntun Dóra S. Bjarnason félagsfræði Baldur Hafstað íslenska Hrefna Sigurjónsdóttir líffræði Auður Torfadóttir enska Sólveig Jakobsdóttir Amalía Björnsdóttir tölfræði

Skorarstjórn

Ingibjörg N fulltrúi nemenda Gunnar Finnbogason uppeldisgreinar Ásrún Tryggvadóttir listmennt Óskar D. Ólafsson fulltrúi nemenda

Fundur með fulltrúum nemenda

Óskar Dýrmundur Ólafsson UF-´97 Þórður M. Þórðarson UF-´98 NN UF-´98 NN UF-´98 Guðrún Stefánsdóttir UF-´98 Jófríður Benediktsdóttir UF-´98

Fundur með kennurum í UF-skor

Amalía Björnsdóttir NN Gunnar Finnbogason Börkur Hansen Ingibjörg B. Frímannsdóttir Ásrún Tryggvadóttir listmenntun Brynhildur Briem heimilisfræði Salvör Gissurardóttir upplýsingatækni-tölvunotkun í námi og kennslu

External Assessment of Teacher Education in Iceland 1998 - 48 -

Fundir með uppeldisvísindadeild - Deildarráð kl. 14:30.

Nemendur í framhaldsnámi 14. janúar kl. 15:30

Svanhildur Kr. Sverrisdóttir Sesselja Snævarr Kristín Karlsdóttir Ragnar Ingi Aðalsteinsson Elín Thorarensen Sigríður Bjarnadóttir Guðrún Soffía Jónasdóttir

Fundur með kennurum í uppeldisvísindadeild 15. janúar kl. 8:30

Guðrún Kristinsdóttir dósent Ólafur Proppé prófessor Amalía Björnsdóttir lektor Anna Kristjánsdóttir prófessor Gunnar Finnbogason lektor

External Assessment of Teacher Education in Iceland 1998 - 49 -

Appendix V Meetings Agenda at University College of Education

Kennaraháskóli Íslands Þriðjudagur 13. janúar

09:00-09:30 Fundur með yfirstjórn (skrifstofa rektors). Þórir Ólafsson, rektor Erla Kristjánsdótir kennslustjóri, Guðmundur Ragnarsson fjármálastjóri, Ólafur Proppé aðstoðarrektor.

09:30-11:30 Fundur með sjálfsmatsnefnd (stofa M-302). Börkur Hansen, dósent, Guðmundur B. Kristmundsson, dósent, Guðmundur Ragnarsson, fjármálastjóri, Gunnar Árnason, lektor, Ingvar Sigurgeirsson, dósent, Ólafur H. Jóhannsson, lektor, Þórhildur Sigurðardóttir, aðstoðaryfirbókavörður, Ingibjörg Ingadóttir, fulltrúi nemenda, Uf-skor Vilhjálmur Kári Haraldsson, fulltrúi nemenda í BEd. skor Þórdís Kristjánsdóttir, fulltrúi nemenda í uppeldisvísindadeild.

11:30-12:00 Aðstaða skoðuð - fyrri hluti. Farið um húsnæði í Stakkahlíð, umsjón: Þórir Ólafsson, rektor

12:00-13:00 Hádegisverður í skrifstofu rektors.

13:00-14:30 Fundur með skorarstjórn fyrir almennt kennaranám og fjarnám (stofa M-302) Ólafur H. Jóhannson skorarstjóri, Karl Jeppesen umsjónarmaður fjarnáms, Baldur Sigurðsson lektor, Ingibjörg Frímannsdóttir fastráðinn stundakennari, Stefán Bergmann dósent, Þóra Kristinsdóttir dósent, fulltrúar nemenda.

14:30-15:30 Fundur með fulltrúum nemenda (stofa M-302). Þrír nemendur úr hverjum árgangi í BEd. námi valdir af handahófi.

15:30–16:30 Fundur með kennurum í uppeldisgreinum og í valgreinum sem kenna í BEd.- og fjarnámi sem ekki geta mætt miðvikudaginn 14. janúar kl. 9:00-10:30 (stofa M-302).

16:30–17:00 Aðstaða skoðuð - seinni hluti (farið um húsnæði skólans við Flókagötu, Háuhlíð, Skipholt og Laugaveg, umsjón: Þórir Ólafsson, rektor).

External Assessment of Teacher Education in Iceland 1998 - 50 -

Miðvikudagur 14. janúar

9:00-10:30 Fundur með kennurum í uppeldisgreinum og í valgreinum sem kenna í BEd.- og fjarnámi (stofa M-???). Fastráðnir kennarar sem ekki eru í sjálfsmatsnefnd 3-4 stundakennarar sem hafa mestu kennslu á hendi

10:30-11:30 Fundur með skorarstjórn í Uf-skor (stofa M-302). Gunnar Árnason skorarstjóri, Gunnar Finnbogason dósent, Ásrún Tryggvadóttir dósent, Gunnar Þorri Þorleifsson, Hjörleifur Jónsson, Ingibjörg Ingadóttir, fulltrúar nemenda.

11:30-12:30 Fundur með fulltrúum nemenda í Uf-skor (stofa M-302). Þrír nemendur valdir af handahófi nöfn tilkynnt síðar.

12:30-13:30 Hádegisverður í skrifstofu rektors.

13:30-14:30 Fundur með kennurum í Uf-skor Fastráðnir kennarar sem ekki eru í sjálfsmatsnefnd 3-4 stundakennarar sem hafa mestu kennslu á hendi

14:30-15:30 Fundur með deildarráði í uppeldisvísindadeild (stofa M-302). Amalía Björnsdóttir, Börkur Hansen, Gretar Marinósson, Ingvar Sigurgeirsson, Loftur Guttormsson og Sigurjón Mýrdal.

15:30-16:30 Fundur með nemendum í uppeldisvísindadeild. Guðrún S. Jónasdóttir, Hafsteinn Karlsson, Jóhanna Karlsdóttir, Kristín Norðdal, Margrét Guðmundsdóttir, Sigríður Bjarnadóttir, Þorsteinn Hjartarson, Svanhildur Sverrisdóttir.

Fimmtudagur 15. janúar

8:30-9:30 Fundur með kennurum í uppeldisvísindadeild.sem ekki eru skorarstjórar (stofa M-302) Anna Kristjánsdóttir, Amalía Björnsdóttir, Guðrún Kristinsdóttir, Gunnar Finnbogason, Hrafnhildur Ragnarsdóttir, Ólafur Proppé.

9:30–10:00 Fundur með formanni stjórnar rannsóknarstofnunar. Loftur Guttormsson prófessor.

10:00–10:30 Lokafundur með rektor (skrifstofa rektors).

11: 00 Brottför til Akureyrar frá Reykjavíkurflugvelli.

External Assessment of Teacher Education in Iceland 1998 - 51 -

Appendix VI Attendance List at University of Akureyri

Háskólinn á Akureyri Fundur með nemendum 15. janúar kl. 15:00-16:00

Halla Elín Baldursdóttir 3 ár kennaradeild Helga Rún Traustadóttir 2 ár “ Sólveig Hjálmarsdóttir 2 ár “ Bragi Þór Svavarsson 2 ár “ Bjarni Jóhann Valdimarsson 3 ár “ Einar Guðmann Örnólfsson 3 ár “ Michelle L. Mielnik 1 ár “ Elín Sigríður Arnórsdóttir 1 ár “ Pollý Rósa Brynjólfsdóttir 1 ár “

Fundur með kennurum í BEd-námi 16. janúar kl. 9:00-10:00

Sigrún Magnúsdóttir aðferðafræði Kristín Aðalsteinsdóttir kennslufræði Haraldur Bessason xxxx Sigurðsson María Steingrímsdóttir NN námskrárfræði og fl. Kristín Sigfúsdóttir Rósa K. Júlíusdóttir listir, hreyfing, Gyða Haraldsdóttir sálfræði (þróunarsálfræði, námssálfræði)

External Assessment of Teacher Education in Iceland 1998 - 52 -

Appendix VII Meetings Agenda at University of Akureyri

Háskólinn á Akureyri

Fimmtudagur 15. janúar

11:45 Komið til Akureyrar

12:00-13:00 Hádegisverður í boði rektors HA, Greifanum Akureyri

13:00-13:30 Fundur með yfirstjórn (Sólborg) Þorsteinn Gunnarsson, rektor Ólafur Búi Gunnlaugsson, framkvæmdastjóri

13:30-15:00 Fundur með sjálfsmatsnefnd Kristján Kristjánsson, starfandi forstöðumaður Anna Þóra Baldursdóttir, lektor og umsjónarmaður kennsluréttindanáms Bragi Guðmundsson, dósent Hafdís Kristjánsdóttir, fulltrúi brautskráðra kandidata Sóveig Magnúsdóttir, fulltrúi nemenda Stefán G. Jónsson, dósent

15:00-16:00 Fundur með fulltrúum nemenda. Þrír nemendur úr hverjum árgangi í BEd. námi valdir af handahófi 1. ár: Elín S. Arnórsdóttir, Pollý Rósa Brynjólfsdóttir, Michelle Lynn Mielnik 2. ár: Bragi Þór Svavarsson, Helga Rún Traustadóttir, Sólveig Hjálmarsdóttir 3. ár: Bjarni Jóh. Valdimarsson, Einar Guðmann Örnólfsson, Halla Elín Baldursdóttir

External Assessment of Teacher Education in Iceland 1998 - 53 -

Föstudagur 16. janúar

09:00-10:00 Fundur með kennurum í BEd. námi Fastráðnir kennarar sem ekki eru í sjálfsmatsnefnd 3-4 stundakennarar sem hafa mestu kennslu á hendi

Guðrún Alda Harðardóttir, lektor Gyða Haraldsdóttir, lektor Kristín Aðalsteinsdóttir, lektor Haraldur Bessason, fyrrv. rektor Ingólfur Á. Jóhannesson, dósent María Steingrímsdóttir, sérfræðingur

Benedikt Sigurðarson, stundakennari Rósa K. Júlíusdóttir, stundakennari Sigrún Magnúsdóttir, stundakennari

10:00-11:00 Fundur með fastráðnum kennurum í uppeldis- og kennslufræði til kennsluréttinda Bragi Guðmundsson Gyða Haraldsdóttir Ingólfur Á. Jóhannesson Kristján Magnússon

11:00-12:00 Fundur með brautskráðum nemendum úr uppeldis- og kennslufræði Þrír nemendur valdir af handahófi Tilkynnt síðar

12:00-13:00 Hádegisverður í boði kennaradeildar

13:00-14:00 Aðstaða skoðuð Kristján Kristjánsson, forstöðumaður Bragi Guðmundsson, staðgengill forstöðumanns

14:00-14:30 Lokafundur með rektor

External Assessment of Teacher Education in Iceland 1998 - 54 -

External Assessment of Teacher Education in Iceland 1998