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

Abstract

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 practices, including various teaching methods, especially in terms of the national curriculum set in 2011. Finally, the fifth strand focused on student influence, engagement and initiative in the learning process, as well as students’ opportunities to influence school governance.

Data was collected during 2013 and 2014 in nine upper secondary schools located around the country, chosen as a stratified random sample out of a total of 31. The student population numbered from around 200 up to 2,000 in each school, representing 33% of the total student population in Icelandic upper secondary schools. This paper describes the methodology in detail.

The data covers: a) Classroom observations supported by an observation frame, conducted during 130 randomly selected lessons (167 hours). Classes or individual students were followed during one school day, by one (56%) or two researchers (44%); b) Photos taken in each classroom (after students had left the room), a total of 111 sets, focusing on furniture arrangement, educational equipment and material displayed on walls; c) A total of 61 recorded interviews with 100 people, supported by interview frames: firstly, with nine heads of school and twelve members of middle management; secondly, with two to three selected teachers in each school, a total of 23; thirdly, with seventeen groups of students consisting of 56 volunteers, eighteen years old or older; and d) Educational documents like lesson plans and school curricula.

The results will serve as a database for longitudinal and comparative research. It is expected that the study will support development in upper secondary schools, the school system in general, and teacher education. Consultancy on behalf of the research group, upon request, is a component of the project.

In this special issue of Netla there are ten articles based on data from the above research project (this article included). In addition, one is rooted in a longitudinal research project, School effectiveness and students’ educational progress, commencing in 2007, and two in a study on school choice at the upper secondary level in both Reykjavik and Helsinki.