The Establishment of Danish School Sloyd and the Beginning of Sloyd Education in lceland

Abstract

Sloyd is a pedagogical system that utilises handicraft training to support the development of students within general education. Sloyd pedagogy was introduced in Denmark around 1880; it grew out of the national cottage craft movement and was initiated by Axel Mikkelsen. Mikkelsen designed a pedagogical Sloyd system for use within Danish schools and established a teaching institution (The Danish Sloyd Teachers’ Association, 2014). The new pedagogical approach in Denmark was aimed towards general education and was based upon the pedagogical ideas of the founders of Nordic Sloyd: Otto Salomon in Sweden and Uno Cygnaeus in Finland. At this time, Iceland was a Danish colony and was thus influenced by Danish education. In 1890, Danish school Sloyd was introduced to Iceland by Jon Thorarinsson, a school director in Hafnarfjordur, after he had completed a course at Mikkelsen’s handicraft school in Copenhagen. Danish School Sloyd was adopted in Iceland in 1890, under the title of School Industry. Thorarinsson used this term to distinguish school industry from home industry, the aim of which was to help households to be self-sufficient. Thorarinsson introduced Sloyd pedagogy to Icelandic educators in 1890 and, in early 1900, craft was established within the National Curriculum as part of general education in Iceland.