Elementary schools, grades 5–7
A visit to the National Museum of Iceland is both enjoyable and educational. The aim of museum educators is to make the visit an exploration journey for children. They are encouraged to ask questions and express their thoughts on what they see, their thoughts, perspectives, and how these might differ from what has been typical throughout the ages.
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Making of a Nation
The visit emphasizes allowing students to experience the National Museum as an interesting place to visit and to become acquainted with the permanent exhibition Making of a Nation. The aim is to promote social awareness among students and enhance their ability to understand their environment, society, history, and culture through exhibition artifacts and the stories they preserve.
Book a school visitIn the Footsteps the Settlers
During the visit, the focus is on the settlement period and artifacts from the early centuries of Icelandic settlement. Students are encouraged to ask questions and express themselves about exhibition artifacts, burial mounds, and the mindset of Iceland's settlers. Discussions cover diverse topics such as religious practices and beliefs, health, living conditions, fashion, technological knowledge, and survival skills. Daily activities associated with artifacts are explored, such as board games, weapons, silver treasures, fireplaces, jewellery, textiles, food utensils, and tools. Additionally, manuscripts from the Icelandic Sagas, burial mounds, and soil samples with ash layers are examined.
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Written and Printed Culture
The visit covers the beginning of literacy during the Commonwealth period, saga writing, and the evolution of book production beyond the Reformation when printing was introduced in Iceland. The visit involves interaction with museum educators, discussions, and independent exploration of the exhibition. Emphasis is placed on students acquiring knowledge from the exhibition, multimedia resources, exhibition artifacts, texts, and audio stations.
Book a school visitReligion and the Reformation
The National Museum preserves many artifacts related to the religious life of Icelanders in past centuries. The museum educator leads the group through the primary exhibition of the museum, Making of a Nation, and engages them with such artifacts as the Thor's Hammer and pagan burials, church replicas, church parts, Bishop Jón Arason's mitre, and other church artifacts related to Catholicism. In addition to church artifacts, objects related to punishment and witchcraft are examined. Students are encouraged to ask questions and express themselves about exhibition artifacts, mindset, perspectives, and ethics of people in different periods of Icelandic history.
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Guiding light of museum educators
From the National Curriculum
In all visits, the educational goal is to follow the guidelines of the primary school curriculum and focus on developing students' understanding of various aspects of society, history, and culture. The objectives can be summarized as follows:
- Understanding Reality: Social sciences aim to enhance students' ability to comprehend their environment, society, history, and culture based on the experiences they have encountered. By expanding and deepening the students' experiential world, social sciences facilitate this understanding.
- Self-awareness: Through social sciences, students are encouraged to develop a clearer understanding of themselves and others. This involves broadening and deepening their mental horizons, allowing them to form a more nuanced perception of themselves and those around them.
- Forming and Developing Relationships: Social sciences promote students' ability to form and develop relationships with others based on the social interactions they participate in. This includes activating students to engage in their social environment, understand its values, and adhere to its rules.
Examples of skills developed according to the National Curriculum in visits:
- Clear understanding of social, natural, religious, and cultural connections: Students are expected to articulate connections between society, nature, belief systems, and worldviews both historically and in contemporary contexts.
- Identification of iceland's characteristics and position in the world: They should describe Iceland's characteristics and its global significance in terms of its location, history, diverse culture, beliefs, and worldviews.
- Description of Icelandic society's characteristics and development: Students should analyze the characteristics and evolution of Icelandic society, citing significant influencing factors.
- Discussion of topics related to beliefs, worldviews, and ethics: They are encouraged to discuss subjects related to faith, worldviews, and ethical standards, placing them in the context of daily life events.
- Understanding historical representation in texts and artifacts: They are expected to recognize how history is presented through texts, artifacts, customs, and memories.
- Awareness of environmental impact on settlement and living conditions: Students should understand how climate and vegetation have influenced settlement patterns and living conditions.
- Empathy towards people with different backgrounds in various times and places: They are prompted to empathize with individuals from diverse backgrounds in selected contexts and periods.
- These objectives underscore the importance of social sciences in fostering critical thinking, cultural awareness, and a deeper understanding of societal dynamics among students during their educational visits. The curriculum aims to enrich their experiences by connecting theoretical knowledge with practical observation and interaction within the museum setting.
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