Jón Torfi Jónasson, PhD.Professor, Dept. of Teacher Education, School of Education Univ. of Iceland.
Former Dean of the School of Education, University of Iceland (2008-2013).
Jón Torfi was educated in physics (BSc) and psychology (MSc and PhD) in the UK. Taught cognitive and educational psychology and methodology for the social sciences for many years.
Jón Torfi became professor of education at the University of Iceland in 1993 and was Dean of the Faculty of Social Science at the University of Iceland, 1995-2001. In 2008 he became the Dean of the School of Education when it was merged with the University of Iceland. In recent years he has studied the problem of drop-out in Iceland, but has also written on all levels of education, i.e. pre-primary, compulsory, upper-secondary (both academic and vocational), higher education, teacher education and adult education, - in many cases from a comparative, esp. Nordic, perspective. His current interest ison teacher education, and how it might be restructured and how it should be characterised by professional development and not only pre-service education. This certainly begs the question about how systems of education develop, what moulds them, and in particular what might stall or spur their development. Recently he has been asking if the educational system is essentially preparing young students for the past, the present or for the future, and then for what future. This calls for a thorough discussion about the role and aims of education and the role of teachers. Currently he is participating in JustEd, the Nordic Centre of Excellence and cooperating closely with the Council of Europe, Pestalozzi programme.
2008 - presentProfessor, School of Education, University of Iceland
2008 - 2013Dean of the School of Education, University of Iceland (a five year term)
1995 - 2001Dean of the Faculty of Social Science, University of Iceland
1993 - 2008Professor at the Faculty of Social Science, Department of education, University of Iceland.
Supervision of five completed PhD thesis.
2015, spring. Visiting Scholar, Graduate School of Education, Stanford University
2014- Contributor to EDiTE, the European doctor in Teacher Education project
2013- 2014 Chairman of the Icelandic Unesco commission
2013- 2015 Member of a team evaluating the University of the Faroe Islands
2011- 2014 Chairman of the board of the (state) Adult education fund
Recent publications in English (see also esp. for Icelandic work )
Jónasson, J. T., & Óskarsdóttir, G. (2016). Iceland: Educational structure and development. In T. Sprague (Ed.), Education in non-EU countries in Western and Southern Europe, pp. 11-36. Series: Education Around the World. London: Bloomsbury. ePub: 978-1-4725-9250-7
Óskarsdóttir, G., & Jónasson, J. T. (2015). Quiet pupils can be effective learners. Nordic Studies in Science Education, 11(3), 238-248.
Gyða Jóhannsdóttir, Gyða & Jónasson, Jón Torfi. (2014). External and internal influences on the development of Icelandic higher education. Nordic Studies in Education, 34, 153-171
Jóhannsdóttir, Gyða, & Jónasson, Jón Torfi. (2013). The Development Dynamics of a Small Higher Education System Iceland: a case in point. Netla – Online Journal on Pedagogy and Education. University of Iceland – School of Education.
Jónasson, Jón Torfi, & Blöndal, Kristjana Stella. (2011). The development of Icelandic education: the situation in 2011 in the perspective of a century. In Piotr Mikiewicz (Ed.), Social capital and education. Comparative research between Poland and Iceland (pp. 52-95). Wrocław: University of Lower Silesia.
Jóhannsdóttir, Gyða, Jónasson, Jón Torfi. (2011). What Characterises the Public-Private Distinction in HE in a Nordic Perspective? Comparison of the Essential Features of Private Universities in Denmark, Iceland and Norway. In Teixeira, Pedro, & Dill, David, D. (Eds.), Public Vices, Private Virtues? (pp. 67 – 89). Rotterdam: Sense Publishers.
Blöndal, Kristjana Stella, Jónasson, Jón Torfi, Tannhäuser, Anne-Christine. (2011). Dropout in a Small Society: Is the Icelandic Case Somehow Different? In S. Lamb, E. Markussen, R. Teese, N. Sandberg and J. Polesel (Eds.) School Dropout and Completion. International Comparative Studies in Theory and Policy, (pp. 233-251). London: Springer.
Jónasson, Jón Torfi.(2008). Inventing Tomorrow´s University. Who is to take the lead?Bologna: Magna Charta Observatory.
Recent conference presentations in English– Scandinavian
June 2015"Pedagogy makes a difference"What does? To whom? To what? Pestalozzi Programme. Invited keynote, Bad Wildbad, 28.6.2015.
April 2015Utbildningsgapet mellan kvinnor och män. The educational gender gap. Paper presented at Kungliga Fysiografiska Sällskapet i Lund Symposium: KVINNLIGT – MANLIGT – FINNS DET SKILLNADER? 28. April 2015, Lund, Sweden.
April 2015The Hidden Dynamics of the Expansion of Higher Education. Paper presented at the AERA in Chicago 17.-23. April 2015.
October 2014Challenges to education as reflected in teacher education and the world of teacher educators. Invited presentation at the University of Luxembourg seminar „Être formateur de terrain au BScE: rôle, identité et responsabilité“, October 14th 2014.
July 2014Thoughts, comments and reflections related to a European doctorate in Teacher Education (EDiTE). Invited panel presentation at the conference, Teacher education and teacher education policies in Europe. EDiTE final conference, 3rd-4th July 2014, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary
June 2014How will the principal strands of education of adults co-exist? The character and sustainability of formal, non-formal and informal education of adults. A presentation at the 2nd conference of the ESREA Network on Policy Studies in Adult Education, Interrogating Sustainability in Adult Learning Policy: European and Global Perspectives. June 18–20, 2014 Aalborg University, Denmark
May 2014What is the nature of the gender gap in Higher Education? What does the gender gap in higher education actually mean? And what will the future be like? An invited keynote at the conference Gender and Higher Education in Europe: Assessing the Past, Re-examining the Present and Shaping the Future. May 22-24, 2014. Lund University, Sweden
April 2014The professional image and ethos of teachers – Why do we care, and what can it mean? An invited keynote at a conference: The professional image and ethos of teachers, organized by the PESTALOZZI Programme, 24-25 April 2014 - Council of Europe, in Strasbourg, France
March 2014NERA. With Guðrún Ragnarsdóttir. What are the external and internal influences that guide the educational changes at the upper secondary school level in Iceland. NERA 42nd Congress, Education for sustainable development. March 5.-7. 2014, Lillehammer, Norway
March 2014NERA. With Gyða Jóhannsdóttir. The relative weight of external and internal influences on the development of Icelandic HE. NERA 42nd Congress, Education for sustainable development. March 5.-7. 2014, Lillehammer, Norway
March 2014NERA. Fundamental problems with research based policy and practice: Some pitfalls in the rhetoric. NERA 42nd Congress, Education for sustainable development. March 5.-7. 2014, Lillehammer, Norway
March 2014JustEd. Inequalities and imbalances within Nordic education: How do we quantify these, how do we determine how much of a problem they present and what can the schools or the school systems do to counteract these? Paper presented at Justed conference: Justice through Education: Marketization and Equity in Embedded Contexts. March 4.-5. 2014, Lillehammer, Norway
January 2014Teacher educators and professional development. Invited presentation. Project nexus. The German Rectors Conference: International Conference Education and Training for European Teachers: Competence Models, Curricular Objectives and Harmonising Theory and Practice. 20.-21. January 2014. Essen,, Germany
September 2013University of the Faroe Islands - Fróðskaparsetrið. Avbjóðingar í framtíðar útbúgvingum - Udfordringer fremtiden stiller for uddannelse. Presentation (in Danish) September 26th 2013. [Some challenges presented by the future for education.]
September 2013Presentation at the Nordic Council, Education and Culture Committee, 24th September 2013. Paper and proposal.
May 2013NOICES Comparative research and fallacious causal attributions. Paper presented at a conference held by The Centre for Research on Lifelong Learning and Education (CELE) and the Nordic Comparative and International Education Society (NOCIES) in Turku May 21-22, 2013. PPTx
March 2013NERA. Grand challenges for educational policy. Paper presented at the NERA conference in Reykjavík, 7.-9. March 2013.
March 2013NERA. With Gyða Jóhannsdóttir. The interaction between internal and external drivers of the development of Icelandic HE. Paper presented at the NERA conference in Reykjavík, 7.-9. March 2013.
March 2013NERA. With Aimee Healy. Is there a Nordic invariance in HE educational development – from the perspective of gender and cohorts? Paper presented at the NERA conference in Reykjavík, 7.-9. March 2013.
March 20135NCOAL. Why LLL should be moved to the central stage of the system of education? Paper presented at the 5th Nordic conference on adult education in Reykjavík, 5.-6. March 2013.
September 2012ATA, The future and education: How do we chart the course - lay the path? A keynote at theAlberta Teacher Association planning meeting in Banff September 12-15 2012. Pptx
September 2012CHER, The dynamics of the development of small HE systems. Gyða Jóhannsdóttir and Jón Torfi Jónasson. Paper presented at the 25th CHER conference held at the University of Belgrade, 10-12th of September 2012.
August 2012STORYLINE, Stories about education. How we tie together the past, the present and the future. A keynote address at the 5th INTERNATIONAL STORYLINE CONFERENCE – STORYLINE a KEY to EFFECTIVE LEARNING and TEACHING Reykjavík 9th-11th August 2012.
July 2012Enirdelm, The future and education: Where do we go from here? A keynote presentation at the SYMPOSIUM “IS A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE SCIENCE FICTION?” A trans-disciplinary ENIRDELM/CoRk symposium. Silesian Botannical Gardens 18-21 July 2012.
November 2011CEPS Ljubljana. The conflict between domestic and global perspectives on HE institutions in small communities.
November 2011ENACIS, The European Council of National Associations of Independent Schools. Keynote. What independence of schools best serves the pupils and the society as a whole and why? Independence from what? Warsaw.
September 2011NLS, Nordic teacher unions.Keynote. The future of education.
September 2011Enirdelm,European Network for Improving Research and Development in Educational Leadership and Management. Keynote. Education of school leaders: The ethical dimension in the educational task of school.
June 2011CHER Consortium of Higher Education Researchers. Is there an invariance in educational expansion?