“Not my type of people!” Students’ narratives of choosing the ‘right’ school for academic tracks in Iceland

• Published in: Netla
• Main Authors: Magnúsdóttir, Berglind Rós, Garðarsdóttir, Unnur Edda
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: Icelandic
• Published: Menntavísindasvið Háskóla Íslands 2020
• Subjects: upper-secondary education; school choice; students; identity formation; inclusive education; social class; Bourdieu; framhaldsskóli; skólaval; nemendur; sjálfsmyndarsköpun; stétt; skóli án aðgreiningar; Iceland
• Online Access: https://ojs.hi.is/netla/article/view/3075; https://doi.org/10.24270/serritnetla.2019.13

This study focuses on academic-track students and examines how choice between upper-secondary school tracks leading to matriculation exams is perceived by those who live in the largest market area; the Reykjavik capital region. The study is based on Bourdieu’s theories, which describe choice as being marked by the relationship between habitus and field and how ideas on school quality are colored by the concentration of privilege of those who belong to the school community. The aim of the study is to imagine whether and, if so, how this applies here in Iceland with regard to students’ choice of upper secondary school and matriculation track.The article is part of a larger study by the first author, which has been supported by the University of Iceland Research Fund (2017). The project is a qualitative case study. The participants consist of 19 students in four different schools: two elite upper secondary schools and two other schools that have low market value among students aspiring for matriculation exams. Both elite schools only have academic tracks for matriculation exams. The lower-ranking schools offer both academic tracks for matriculation exams and art and vocational tracks of many kinds. There is a much wider age distribution of students than in the elite schools, both due to the vocational tracks and also due to access of young people up to 24 years old to enroll in academic tracks integrated with 16 to 20-year-old students at the upper secondary schools. The interviewees were all born in 1997 and were entering their fourth and last year of study. Each student interviewee participated in a semi-structured interview, theoretically driven by Bourdieu’s conceptual framework in mind (Berglind Rós Magnúsdóttir, 2014; Reay et al., 2011; Reay et al., 2005). The students also answered a standardized electronic questionnaire that mapped generational class history, extracurricular activities and certain aspects of their cultural consumption.In this article we pay particular attention to those students in the ...