“No one is idle in my classroom” Ásta Egilsdóttir

Ásta Egilsdóttir leik- og grunnskólakennari

Abstract

The topic of this chapter is the work of kindergarten and elementary school teacher Ásta Egilsdóttir. It shows a teacher who worked professionally and was interested in constantly examining and reflecting on her work to improve and develop it. She seemed to be able to reach students with various topics that piqued their interest. Qualitative research methods are used, and data is obtained through interviews with Ásta and a document review of diverse data she has recorded about her teaching and the students’ learning: lesson plans, stories and photographs from school activities. Her goal has always been that no one is passive in her classroom. This means that she emphasises the activity of students in their own learning based on the interest and ability of each individual as long as the learning and teaching align with the learning standards of the primary school curriculum. Three of Ásta’s main teaching subjects were chosen, showing her professionalism and progressive school work. They are the following: The use of unit blocks in learning and teaching, visual organisation and learning centres and students’ participation in learning. Social studies are the starting point of the students’ learning while playing with the unit blocks, but other subjects are then integrated into the learning process as it develops. Students are allowed to be active and creative in thinking in relation to their needs for free play, which is used as a means of learning and motivation for learning. The experience quickly taught Ásta that organisations with study centres had many advantages over seatwork and controlled teaching. The main advantage was that the students were much more active in the learning centres than in desk jobs since learning in centres is generally activity-oriented and the learning environment is diverse. Ásta organised them based on Howard Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences to appeal to the students’ diverse needs, developmental factors, and different abilities.

One of the ways to reach a diverse group of students is to use visual day planning and graphic and often tangible instructions. Ásta says such an arrangement has made her class management easier over the years. It often appeals to students better than verbal instructions and explanations. This applies, for example, to students with a limited vocabulary or difficulty concentrating and those with Icelandic as a second language. In this way, students understand and often remember concepts and subjects they deal with better within school. When Ásta’s attitude towards the organisation of school work and education for all is examined, it can be seen how she meets the different needs of a diverse group of students and works on her own professional development as a teacher. Ásta succeeds in this in her teaching, where she is the teacher who learns simultaneously as the students through her active participation in their learning process. This is a pedagogy that benefits both students and teachers. Ásta meets the students’ interest and works with them professionally and safely, demonstrating democratic working methods. She has thought about her work professionally and thoroughly. Stories and pictures from Ásta’s school work show how she organised the students’ learning and teaching. They show that Ásta is a responsive teacher who respects her students by responding to their ideas that are created in the classroom. She uses such opportunities for learning within the framework of the curriculum.