Anh-Dao Katrín Tran, doctoral student at the School of Education
"The Icelandic education system and Icelandic society face the challenge of preparing all students for life in a multicultural society. Young students of foreign background are more likely to drop out of studies than their Icelandic peers," says Anh-Dao Katrín Tran, a doctoral student at the School of Education.
Anh-Dao Katrín Tran
"Teaching material must be used in such a way that it better reflects Iceland's multicultural society."
Anh-Dao is a refugee from Vietnam herself. Her doctoral research is focused on the development of immigrant issues amongst Vietnamese upper secondary school students. Anh-Dao met her Icelandic husband during her time as a student at Dartmouth College in the US and moved to Iceland in 1984. Since that time she has worked in immigrant issues in Iceland. In 2006 she was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Order of the Falcon for her work in the interests of new Icelanders and multicultural society in Iceland. The same year she was also awarded a special recognition from Save the Children Iceland Foundation for her work in the interests of children and their human rights.
The initial results of Anh-Dao's research call for fundamental changes to education matters in Iceland in general. "Teaching material must be used in such a way that it better reflects Iceland's multicultural society. The curriculum must place more emphasis on critical thinking with a view to fighting prejudice. Teachers must apply teaching methods that encourage the success of students from different cultural groups, and finally we must create a school environment that supports the joint involvement of all interested parties for the purpose of ensuring the comprehensive success of students," says Ahn-Dao.
Supervisor: Hanna Ragnarsdóttir, senior lecturer at the Faculty of Education Studies.