Mímir's Head of Profession receives Stjórnvisir's Incentive Award

Joanna Dominiczak, Head of the Icelandic Language and International Cooperation Department at Mími-símenntun, received a special encouragement award at the Stjórnvísir awards ceremony, which took place at the Grand Hotel in Reykjavík on Monday, 12th February.

The Stjórnvísi Management Awards are presented annually to business leaders who are considered to have excelled in their field. Awards for outstanding management are presented, as well as incentive awards, which were presented for the first time this year. The President of Iceland presented the awards to six individuals at a ceremony. Around 70 individuals were nominated for the awards, and the staff at Mímir are extremely proud of Jóna and the recognition she has received for her work.

Mímir has many years of experience teaching Icelandic to non-native speakers, and courses have been held successfully since 2003. Over the past few years, Mímir has undertaken an extensive review of Icelandic as a second language teaching and learning, in collaboration with numerous stakeholders. In her role as Head of Department, Joanna, together with her colleagues, has led changes aimed at even better meeting the needs and expectations of students and workplaces. In this way, the course has become better connected to society than ever before, with the success being measured, among other things, by increased attendance at work-related Icelandic language training for companies. There has also been a growing awareness of the importance of Icelandic language teaching with regard to social inclusion.

The team at Mímir places great emphasis on innovation and development in both teaching methods and course materials to ensure more effective Icelandic instruction, and has received praise for both from students and partners. The team has pioneered the customisation of Icelandic language teaching for businesses, making it easier for employees to speak Icelandic in their professional context and consequently making all communication simpler.

In her citation upon receiving the award, Joanna was described as driven, imaginative, forward-thinking, helpful and caring, and has worked as a subject leader with great ambition for the past year. In her speech upon receiving the award, she thanked her colleagues for their support and for motivating her to become a better leader every day. Joanna said she was humbled and extremely grateful for the Stjórnvisir incentive award.

The staff of Mímir warmly congratulate Jóna and we look forward to continuing to work with her to improve Icelandic language learning for people from foreign backgrounds.