Icelandic craft teachers’ curriculum identity as reflected in life histories ...

• Main Author: Helgadóttir, Guðrún
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: University of British Columbia 2009
• Subjects: Iceland
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.14288/1.0054994; https://doi.library.ubc.ca/10.14288/1.0054994

This is a study of the curriculum identity of Icelandic craft teachers. The study is based on life history interviews with 42 teachers born between 1913 and 1960. The interviews traced a life long relationship with the subject they chose to teach. Particular attention was paid to how the teachers define their subject and how they identify with it. The information gathered was analyzed with reference to the development of crafts as school subjects in Iceland. The study describes in context the relationship that teachers have with their subjects and attempts to explain it in terms of gender and class. The curriculum identity of the teacher of these subjects is crucial as the subjects are not defined by external means such as a prescriptive formal curriculum or centralized assessment. Each teacher is therefore able to construct a personal curriculum. The curriculum identity of craft teachers is defined by gender and class. The Icelandic school system includes two craft subjects; textiles formerly know as girls' ...