The town supports early years teacher training

For five years, the City of Hafnarfjörður has offered grants to unqualified staff in its nurseries to study for a qualification in early years education. Jenný Dagbjört Gunnarsdóttir, a nursery development officer for the City of Hafnarfjörður, was a nursery teacher for 21 years and says it is extremely varied, fun and rewarding work. She says various options are available for those interested in becoming nursery teachers, such as the fact that the course is subsidised by the council and people keep their salaries during the time. 

The local paper Hafnfirðingur met Jenný the other day.

Since 2015, staff in the town's nurseries have received scholarships from the City of Hafnarfjörður to study early years education. The aim has been to recruit more nursery teachers. „This is a great opportunity. The early years teacher training course is good, practical and, above all, rewarding, and there is little risk of a lack of projects. Good nursery teachers are always needed.“ says Jenný, pointing out that it is a five-year university degree, just like for teaching qualifications in other school stages, because teaching little people is truly just as important as teaching older ones. The aim of early years teacher training is to prepare teachers to work with children and for collaboration with parents and others involved in educational and childcare work. In Hafnarfjörður, there are 30% qualified early years teachers working today, but according to the law, there should be 75%, or three-quarters. 17-18% have another university degree and the rest are unqualified staff. This challenge with the proportion of qualified staff is nationwide, and the situation is similar in other local authorities.

^{Nursery school pupils receive a strong foundation that prepares them for primary school. Graduation of pupils from Hraunvallar Nursery School 2019. Photo/OBÞ}

Good when everyone is in step

„Nursery school teachers need to read the needs of children, know what they want, and that they have developmental areas that we are tasked with nurturing. That knowledge and skill doesn't necessarily come from the school of life. Unqualified staff in nurseries are very important, but it can naturally be exhausting for teachers to repeatedly have to guide and teach the correct techniques and methods. It's so good when everyone is on the same page and has the same understanding. Nursery life becomes so much better because of it.“ says Jenný, adding that the best thing about the job is the variety in the tasks, days and groups of children. „Working on watching individuals acquire various skills. They often come to school non-verbal and leave with a large vocabulary. For example, guiding them on how to do up their shoelaces. Giving them time, patience and respect, and showing them that school is for them. And all the foundation they get before they go to primary school.“

Great opportunities

Jenný explains that the scholarships provided by the town take the form of paid leave for attending local parts of distance learning and vocational training, and as one-off payments of up to 50,000 krónur per term, in addition to grants towards tuition fees and book purchases. Many trade unions offer reimbursement for tuition fees, and the town subsidises the purchase of books. „We are collaborating with the Hafnarfjörður Library and are working on establishing our own subject collection. At the beginning of each term, we first check if a book is available in the collection. When the term is over, the textbooks are then returned to the library. We also do this with recycling in mind,“ says Jenný, and wants to point out that if anyone finds the study time too long, people with a school-leaving certificate can start by taking the early years education course at Borgarholtsskóli. From there, they can go on to university to pursue a diploma programme and the title of assistant nursery teacher at bachelor's degree level. After that, it is possible to obtain a master's degree. „It's good to think about this in stages, and time passes so quickly. This will conclude with a licence for teachers, and after the New Year, teachers with such a licence will be able to teach at all school levels. The opportunities are therefore great.“ says Jenný at last.

An interview with Jenný was published in Hafnfirðinginn on 21 May 2020.

See also: 30 nursery staff on a scholarship