Margrét Pála Ólafsdóttir, is an Icelandic pioneer pedagogue, educator and philanthropist. She is a kindergarten and elementary teacher with further studies in school management, an M.Ed. in pedagogy and education and an MBA degree in business administration. Margrét Pála has written numerous books and articles on gender equality, pedagogy and education, both for parents and academics. She is also well known as a consultant, lecturer and analyst and has been granted numerous awards and recognition for her work, including The Knight‘s Cross of the Icelandic Order of the Falcon from the President of Iceland for innovation in education.

I was introduced to her in Iceland back in 2013 when I travelled there to make the book An Equal Difference. We talk about her educational model, the Hjalli model which is a teaching method for kindergarten and elementary school, created and founded by Margrét Pála in 1989. It is now an independent scholarly organisation, Hjalli Ltd, which operates 14 kindergartens and three elementary schools around Iceland with service contracts in 11 municipalities. The total number of children in their schools is over 2000 and around 450 employees. In 2018 they extended their model to a nursery school they acquired in Glasgow and have spent time carefully training the local staff and adopting the method to better fit the Scottish culture.

We also talk toward the end of the podcast about the pandemic, its impact on families, especially children and parents who have been forced into homeschooling during the pandemic.

Guest: Margrét Pála Ólafsdóttir

Websites: hjallimodel.com

Host: Gabrielle Motola

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The Soundtrack and sound effects for the show’s opening and transitions were taken from the piece “Organ” by Áslaug Magnúsdóttir with permission.