A progressive teacher who attended to children’s needs Jón Freyr Þórarinsson

Jón Freyr Þórarinsson

Abstract

In this article, we highlight the work of our teacher 60 years ago who emphasised cooperation, information-based teaching, independent students, child-centred pedagogy and equality. Jón Freyr Þórarinsson was our classroom teacher for five years. He had a great influence on us and our view of teaching. He began his teaching at Laugarneskóli after completing his teacher training. We enjoyed his progressive teaching, where the class spirit was nurtured, and all students were respected.

Our study used narratives and retrospective data collection and analysis. The foundation for the narratives included our conversations with Jón about his teaching methods, our memories, and data and photos from the school work.

We focus on what was happening in education in Iceland at the time Jón Freyr taught us. We mainly looked through publications in Menntamál, the main educational journal in Iceland. Psychologists, educational leaders and teachers wrote in the journal. We chose to study aspects that we believe characterised Jón Frey’s teaching methods. We discuss the teacher as a professional, the teaching methods, and learning and teaching conditions, emphasising accommodating students to strengthen their personal development. Cooperation between students, helpfulness, mutual responsibility and respect for classmates form the class spirit (Sigurþór Þorgilsson, 1963).

Jón Freyr used group work, information-based learning, student-created workbooks and study techniques in his teaching, emphasising cooperation and empathy among his students. His teaching methods were progressive, and his view of school work and work with students laid the foundation for strong social ties between his classmates.

The teaching methods that Jón Freyr learned from Sigurþór (a classroom teacher hired by the district to teach other teachers about group work) were especially useful in subjects such as geography, history, natural science, and Christianity. In geography, we made large maps that were coloured in elevation colours. In natural science, we drew animals and plants on large cards and recorded information about them. When we worked on settlers in Icelandic history, we made a map of Iceland and marked its settlement lands. Two projects made in 3D are particularly memorable to us: an aquarium and an aviary created by the students where they drew birds and fish, cut them out and hung them in their respective containers.

Jón Frey’s vision of teaching children was expressed in all the classwork. It was not only his teaching methods but also all his interactions with us as students that were characterised by the fact that he had the best interests of all of us at heart. Both authors have very clear memories of the time he took charge of the class and united three groups of students into one class. In writing this chapter, we have found it easy to recall memories from our elementary school years. We have met our classmates regularly since 1985, and during our meetings, we have discussed what we remember most from our time at Laugarnesskóli. When we look back and discuss what has influenced our strong social relationships in the class, we understand many things now but did not fully understand when we were children.

The need to write about the progressive teaching methods from the middle of the last century by the teacher who taught us has been with us for a long time. Jón Freyr told us that his ideal was “to emphasise cooperation, information-based teaching, independent working methods of students and pedagogy that takes children into account and the ideal of equality rather than the elite policy of the school authorities”. Reviewing the publications in Menntamál and our conversations about them have repeatedly brought to mind our time with Jón Freyr. His teaching methods have been reflected in them, and we realised the source of his ideas. In our experience as Jón’s students, we saw the innovations in the Education Act on equal access to learning, the emphasis on the student making the most of himself, teachers’ writings about vocational pedagogy, free work methods, free humanistic work practices, free organic work practices, functional parenting, and teaching methods and experiential learning reflected. We particularly enjoyed reading Sigurþór’s article from 1963, The Internal School Work Hið innra skólastarf, both his criticism of the schools of his time and what he wrote about teaching methods. We reacquainted ourselves with the seven aspects of learning technology he listed in Jón’s work. We also found harmony in Magnús Gíslason’s writings about the teacher’s personality and Jón Frey’s behaviour with students. He had a good disposition and was always balanced. His gentle demeanour made us respect him and put more effort into our studies and interactions with others.