The educational system of Iceland

Seminar paper from the year 2011 in the subject Pedagogy - School System, Educational and School Politics, grade: 1,00, University of Vienna, course: 'Theorie und Praxis der Schulentwicklung - The Development of the Austrian School System as Compared to Other Systems', language: English, abstract: The educational system of Iceland has its roots in two traditions: The catholic tradition on one and the Tradition of the Icelandic literature on the other hand. One of the first Monastery schools was founded in 1056 in Skálholt (where the residence of the Bishop is), were Reading, Writing, Theology, Singing and Poetry was taught there. During this time, the Catholic Church was (not only in Iceland) a very wealthy landowner with extraordinarily much social power, which means that the economical basis for their schools was very stable at that time. The beginning of the literary tradition can also be found in the middle ages. Since that time, it is a part of the Icelandic culture that children should learn how to read properly. After the reformation, this tradition was institutionalized. The parents got the order to teach their kids in Reading and Christianity, which was controlled by their responsible priests on a regular basis. The rule was that every kid should be able to read up to their confirmation. At the end of the 18th century, Iceland was one of the very few countries, were nearly the whole population could read. The Icelandic school system is split into four levels: Kindergarten (leikskóli) for children between the age of six months and six years, primary school (grunnskóli) from six to sixteen years, secondary schools which end at the age of twenty and the university and some technical colleges.