Upper Secondary School Practices in Iceland: Research project 2012–2018: Method

• Published in: Netla
• Main Author: Óskarsdóttir, Gerður G.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: Icelandic
• Published: Menntavísindasvið Háskóla Íslands 2020
• Subjects: upper secondary schools; research plan; research framework; research methods; framhaldsskóli; skipulag rannsóknar; rannsóknarlíkan; rannsóknaraðferðir; Iceland
• Online Access: https://ojs.hi.is/netla/article/view/3063; https://doi.org/10.24270/serritnetla.2019.1

This research project Upper secondary school practices in Iceland was carried out in 2012–2018. It was a cooperative undertaking by over 20 researchers, including teachers and graduate students at the Schools of Education and Social Sciences at the University of Iceland, and located in the Centre for Research in Educational Development, School of Education. The project was associated with the Nordic Centre of Excellence: Justice through Education in the Nordic Countries (JustEd, n.d.), 2012–2018, supported by NordForsk (an organisation providing funding for Nordic cooperation in research). The centre focused on the question: How do systems, cultures and actors in education facilitate and constrain justice in the context of globalising Nordic welfare states? This study was carried out by one of its seven teams.The main objectives of the research project were to provide an understanding of teaching and learning in upper secondary schools in Iceland and the moulding forces of their evolution. A special emphasis was placed on educational structures, administration, the physical learning environment, teaching strategies, views within the institution and student influence, engagement and initiative.The research framework included five strands. The first focused on the structures of the upper secondary schools, official initiatives and the relationship between current practices and intended changes, as presented in the educational policy introduced by legislation (2008) and the curriculum (2011). The second strand was intended to throw light on teachers’ views towards education, covering their beliefs on the effect of current practices on student learning, including structure, curriculum, teaching, and learning. Strand three pointed to the current physical environment in the schools, especially classrooms, focusing on features of change in school buildings, reflecting new challenges involving architecture, educational ideology and school policy. The fourth strand was directed towards exploring current classroom ...