In the last decade, teacher education in Iceland has undergone extensive reform. A legislation was passed requiring a master’s degree for teacher certification (no. 87/2008) such that in 2013 the first cohort of teacher candidates graduated from a 5-year program (Sigurdardottir, et al. 2018). Changes have also been made to field practice in teacher education, both regarding the length and its implementation. The latest changes taking place in 2019, giving candidates the option of paid internship in schools in their final year of study. Despite rapid changes and reform, little research has been devoted to the nature of Icelandic teacher preparation or the nature of specific factors that effectively prepare prospective teachers for the teaching profession. However, research from other countries suggest that amplified field preparation that is linked with coursework on teaching practices, produces more effective teachers as well as teachers that are more likely to stay in the field (Brouwer & Korthagen, 2005; Darling-Hammond et al., 2002; McDonald, et al., 2014). The aim of this study was to explore to what extent Icelandic teacher candidates perceive to have opportunities to enact teaching practices in their campus coursework and to what extent they perceived a connection between university courses and what they experience in their field work. Data was collected in two teacher education programs in Iceland. Collectively these programs are responsible for the education of over 95% of Icelandic teacher candidates each year. The programs differ extensively both regarding size and content, but both have their most extensive field practice in the candidate’s final year of study. A total of 173 student teachers in their last year of study completed an online survey (CATE) designed to better understand the pedagogical aspect of teacher education. The opportunities that students had to enact practice was measured with 9 items measured on a four-point ordinal scale (no opportunity - many opportunities) and students perceived connection between theory and practice was evaluated with 3 items measured on a 4-point Likert scale (strongly disagree -strongly agree). Preliminary findings indicate that in both programs students perceived that they have some opportunity to enact certain practices in their collage classes but little opportunity to analyze videos or transcripts from real students in real classrooms. Furthermore, in both programs, teacher candidates reported that what they experienced in their field placement, did to some extent, not reflect what they learned in their university courses.

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