Tuesday, 26 April
DAY 3

School visit 1

Today we are visiting a school that does not look very new.

However, we are welcomed in the teachers’ room, where a whole banquet has been prepared for us. Apparently, it was not done only for us; if I am right, teachers have breakfast here.

At the entrance the usual rack to leave coats and shoes. Students should wear school shoes, but in the end they all wear just socks. Teachers wear shoes.

We are met by a boy and a girl. Their English is fluent. They are not shy to speak to a bunch of teachers, and foreign ones for that matter.

They sound happy for what they are being offered, but not boasting.

The part we visit first is the one for years 1-5, corresponding to primary education.

Lots of works made by students are displayed on the walls. Staircases are transformed into multiplication tables and series of prime numbers.

The classes don’t have many children. They are curious of us when we intrude in their daily routine, but again they are not shy, and they are happy to answer our questions. 

Some classes have teachers for special needs.

It is easy to understand what classes are focusing on at the moment.

The students of one class sport a brand new hoodie, with Denmark written on it. Tomorrow they are leaving for Denmark on a school exchange.

In another class we can see dinosaurs and books on dinosaurs displayed everywhere. Studying dinosaurs means approaching them as directly as possible.

Then we visit the workshops. The first one is for wood-working. Lots of tools hang on the walls: screwdrivers, saws, hammers. We all look at each other, quite puzzled. Would that be acceptable in our countries?

Our guides put a lot on emphasis on manual work.

They tell us they stay at school till 3 pm, with the exception of one day when they leave school at 12.

They get homework to do, which normally takes them around 2 hours.

They have all the subjects we could imagine, but they don’t have religious studies.

Then we visit the part of elder students, aged 11-16.

Here students don’t stay all day in one room, but they change according to the subjects.

The science rooms has rockets to explain the gravity force, microscopes for observations, other materials to help teach, and even more to help understand things.

Students wear caps, beanies and headphones. Teachers don’t seem to care. When we ask, they say there is nothing wrong with that, as long as they do their job.

 Again, students are quite easy going about our presence. Occasionally they try to attract our attention, but they never avoid contact.

They seem at ease in their environment.

One room is reserved to students with special needs. This is where they can go to relax and have some time for individual work when they feel like it.

The centre of the school is the library, which has a full-time librarian.

The last room we visit is the English room. They are in year 9 (14-15 years old), and they are studying the regular form of the past tense. They have slides projected onto the wall, with sentences contrasting Icelandic and English, and guiding them to the rules.

The teacher is happy to speak to us, and shows us the books they use and read, and the films they watch. She has a full range of games to use to help oral production.

She has only a vague idea of what European Certifications might be, but students probably don’t need to show how good at English they are.

Finn colleagues point out that the system is not much unlike theirs.

The thing that strikes me more is the students’ confidence. They do not hesitate before us. They don’t brag and they don’t shy away from us.

They apparently don’t concentrate much on specific subjects, but they use school to deal with everyday needs and problems. Workshops teach them what they will need in their future life, from fixing a hole in the socks to repairing house furniture, and on walls we have seen their works about “the text neck”, the consequence on spending too much time looking at their mobile phones.

As Johanna pointed out yesterday, the mission of the school is the well-being of students. 


REFLECTIVE JOURNAL

Learn by doing at school: labs for cooking, sewing, wood-work. Hands on in National Museum. Students don’t wear shoes. Teachers do.

Students tolerated with headphone and caps. No special embarrassment to talk to us- education to freedom, independence and self-assuredness?

Monday, 25 April 2016
DAY 2

The Icelandic school system

DAY 2

Very interesting presentation on the Icelandic school system delivered by Johanna Vilbergsdottir, the head-teacher of our host-school.

Johanna is very committed to her job, and proud for all the things she has been able to realize.

Vaettaskoli is the result of the fusion between two schools. Here – as in many other countries, as we find out – fusions have become quite common to limit the expenses for the staff.

Teachers are hired directly by the school. Within the first 4 months they can be fired. If they meet the necessary requirements they stay, and after 2 years they can get a permanent job.

They can teach whatever subject suits them, even subjects they have not studied at university but that they feel like sharing.

Their hobbies are especially useful to activate the afternoon courses: each student has to choose among a range of possibilities, that at Vaettaskoli are abot 70, from fishing to English, from dancing to chess to wood-working.

The school’s primary aim is the well-being of students. Johanna is proud that in the past year the students of her school have reduced drinking, drug consumption and drop-out rate.

At 16 students sit a national exam in the fundamental subjects, then they can decide if they want to go to high school to be able to go to university.

Drop-out rate in Iceland is quite high.

The most important aspect she has spoken about is the fact that teaching has to be flexible, as also the curriculum is.

Students are followed individually, and they have psychologists, counsellors and other staff that can help them find the best solutions to their problems or expectations.

Schools are totally paid by the state, which also funds (at least partially) the private schools. Parents are not allowed to pay anything.

Students can raise money by doing several activities, and with the money they get they can finance their extra activities, like school trips.

Next, Runa (Gudrun Kristjansdottir) gives us a presentation on Icelandic identity.

She starts with her personal reflection on what it means to be a teacher:

Then she tells us about Icelandic history, flora and fauna.

It is exactly what we need to start and discover the place, to have a background to the schools we are going to visit tomorrow and to the people we are going to meet.



REFLECTIVE JOURNAL

School principals have almost total freedom -together with parents- to decide school offer.

Teachers hired by the school, can teach what they feel like, for example their hobbies, in afternoon activities.

Sunday, 24 April 2016
Day 1

Iceland!


There we are. Iceland, finally.

The impact has not been easy. The road from Keflavik airport to town was one enormous barren gloomy lava field.

The sky overcast. And finally, the inescapable (and unpronounceable) Hallgrimskirkja.

Probably not the most convincing church in the world.

Then things cleared up.

The sky, first. Then the heart when I finally met the colleagues who were going, like me, to the Erasmus meeting.

When we finally arrived at Vaettaskoli - Engi, we had already become friends.

The sky was glorious, and the school had prepared some good kaffi to welcome us.

Eduardo, from English Matters, introduced the programme of the course, focussing especially on the importance to live the experience with an Erasmus spirit. Mix mix mix, and ask ask ask.

We all seem to have the intention to carry out the task.

75 teachers, from 16 different countries: Germany, Spain, Latvia, France... Enough to make us dizzy!

The meeting ended in time to enjoy a glorious sunset on Reykjavik bay.

The adventure had started.


REFLECTIVE JOURNAL

Erasmus spirit. Join together. Exchange experiences, expectations and frustrations. All eager to know about the Finnish school system.

Context used to teach.

Icelandic Cinema

Director:

 Benedikt Erlingsson

Writer:

 Benedikt Erlingsson

Stars:

 Ingvar Eggert Sigurðsson, Charlotte Bøving, Johann Pall Oddson |

Leaving today for Iceland.

To get into the Northern mood I have watched one of the Icelandic films that have been more appraised, a strange combination of stories and characters that are far from the cinema we are used to.
Difficult to follow and understand, it sets its stories in a timeless dimension that makes us touch the essence of myths and Northern sagas.
A scene anticipates a similar one in Inarritu's Revenant.

Classroom Observation

A few websites with materials on how to do it effectively:


http://curry.virginia.edu/uploads/resourceLibrary/CASTL_practioner_Part4_single.pdf

http://www.tttjournal.co.uk/uploads/File/ttj_plus/Observation%20Tasks.pdf

http://edglossary.org/classroom-observation/

http://www.learnnc.org/lp/pages/739?ref=search

http://www.educationworld.com/a_admin/admin/admin297.shtml

http://www.greatschools.org/gk/articles/the-school-visit-what-to-look-for-what-to-ask/

http://lsl.eun.org/observation-visits

Classroom Observation Strategies: 
choose your journey

http://www.aitsl.edu.au/professional-growth/support/classroom-observation-strategies

Classroom observation makes teaching and learning more visible. It encourages colleagues to collaborate to improve teacher practice and student learning. But which classroom observation strategy should you choose?

These resources provide an introduction to some common observation strategies. Combining instructional guides and accompanying videos, the resources explain all you need to know to choose and implement an appropriate classroom observation strategy for your school.

Get started with the resources by using the ‘Introducing observation’ video at a staff/team meeting. Choose the most appropriate strategy to suit your context and use the relevant video with staff to see it in action. Use the ‘how-to’ guide as a basis for agreeing on some structures and protocols to support implementation.

>

Introducing Classroom Observation

An introduction to implementing classroom observation in your school. ▼

>

Instructional Coaching

A coach working one-to-one with a teacher, to model and observe classroom practice and to support reflection and professional conversation. The aim is to build a partnership to develop evidence-based teaching practices. ▼

>

Instructional Rounds

A group of leaders and/or teachers visiting multiple classrooms at their own or another school with the aim to spread practice and support scaling systemic improvements of teaching and learning. ▼

>

Learning Walks

A group of teachers visiting multiple classrooms at their own school with the aim of fostering conversation about teaching and learning in order to develop a shared vision of high quality teaching that impacts on student learning. ▼

>

Lesson Study

A small team of teachers working together in a systematic cycle of planning, teaching, observing, refining and reviewing specific lessons in order to examine their practice and improve their impact on student learning. ▼

>

Peer Observation

Teachers observing each other’s practice and learning from one another, including offering constructive feedback to peers. ▼

>

Videos of Practice

Classroom practice is recorded and later viewed as a means of observation of self and/or others. The aim is to support self-reflection and provide access to observation of others’ practice anytime, anywhere. ▼

The Nordic countries could teach us about teamwork in education

Peter Mortimorehttp://www.theguardian.com/education/2010/oct/05/education-policy-nordic-countries

Last month I had the opportunity of working with NordNet – a network of educational policy researchers from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden. The network exists to exchange information, learn from each other's projects and to pool knowledge of educational improvements. This autumn, it was reflecting on the impact of the EU and the OECD on Nordic education systems. My job was to act as their "critical friend".

In some ways the Nordics are a disparate group of countries: Denmark has only a tenth of the land – and Iceland a thirtieth of the population – of Sweden. National gross domestic products are fairly similar, except for that of Norway, which has been swollen by its oil and gas revenues, and Iceland, which has been hit by the financial crisis. On the gini index (showing the relative "equality" of their societies), their positions are close. They also spend similar proportions on their education systems, with Denmark spending the most and Finland the least.

In comparison with the UK, the Nordic countries generally have more land, but far fewer people. They are a little richer, but more equal. They traditionally also spend more on education than the UK. In terms of values, they are committed to the idea of bildung – a difficult-to-translate German word often taken to mean the formation of a child within an education milieu that aspires to liberty and human dignity as well as academic prowess.

In the latest Pisa (Programme for International Student Assessment) tests for 15-year-olds, Nordic education results differ considerably. Finland tops the field – as it usually does – and Norway languishes at, or just below, the OECD average. Apart from science, the UK is generally in the middle: better than some, but much worse than others.

All the Nordics – with the exception of Iceland – have higher staying-on rates at 16, similar rates in tertiary education, but far higher levels of participation in lifelong learning than the UK. (According to the Eurobarometer survey, 56% of Danes are involved in some form of continuing education, compared with only 40% in the UK.) In the last adult literacy survey, all the Nordic participants outperformed the UK sample.

The Unicef survey of children's national conditions, like the "happiness" scale drawn up by researchers at York University, firmly places the Nordics among the best and the UK among the worst. And an OECD analysis of "earnings mobility" and "income inequality" show that Nordic countries are high on the former and low on the latter – in direct contrast to UK figures. 

Our politicians, of all parties, appear fascinated by Nordic education although, up to now, it has been Sweden's policy of school choice rather than the impressive success of Finnish comprehensives on which they have focused. If only they could free themselves from their ideologies and switch their interests, they would learn a great deal about how to improve the academic success of all pupils in all schools.

The purpose of our meeting was to look at some of the educational problems faced by Nordic countries. And, as we know from best-selling novelists such as Stieg Larsson, they have a dark side. We considered why there was so much variation in outcomes among such similar countries and whether there really was a Nordic model. We also noted that Swedish results have gone down in every Pisa test since 2000, and wondered why Finnish students, despite doing so well, seem to dislike school so much more than their lower-scoring Norwegian peers.

We discussed the challenges facing school leaders today, how best the idea of a "school for all" could be preserved, the trends from play to more formal learning in early childhood education, the impact of quality assurance on higher education, and the spread of "closed learning and behaviour packages" that schools have to buy into and whose details are not available to outsiders. Nordic researchers are engaged in many ongoing studies but, as yet, no blindingly obvious answers emerged from our deliberations. Their collaboration will continue.

I was impressed by the democratic spirit as well as by the energy and honesty of the meeting – undertaken in pretty faultless English. If it is not already happening, it would make sense for English, Welsh, Scottish and Northern Ireland policy researchers to meet in a similar programme – perhaps with a Nordic critical friend – to consider what lessons can be learned from each other's recent experiences as well as how best to prepare for the forthcoming period of austerity.

The Educational System in Iceland

Another step towards Iceland: 

Bjork, Black Lake

Mesmerising and unsettling, this double video explores the womb of mother Iceland.

Getting ready for Iceland


To try and get an Icelandic mood, I have watched the film:

Hrútar (English: Rams, Italian: Rams: storia di due fratelli e otto pecore) by Grímur Hákonarson (2015), was awarded the top prize in the section Un Certain Regard at the Cannes Film Festival.

Essential and intense, it shows a universal story of love and hatred, persistence of the past and fear for the future. The rams of the title are two brothers, clashing with each other but also sawing the seeds to survive till the future.

All the elements have an ancestral flavour, taking us back to the dawn of creation.

Icelandic landscape and people are literally stripped to the bone to get to the very essence of things.

An invitation to discover the hidden mysteries of Icelandic dales. Of life.

Iceland

from: http://www.oecdbetterlifeindex.org/countries/iceland/

How’s Life?

Iceland performs well in many measures of well-being relative to most other countries in the Better Life Index. Iceland ranks at the top in jobs and earnings, and above the average in social connections, subjective well-being, health status, environmental quality, personal security, civic engagement, and education and skills.

Money, while it cannot buy happiness, is an important means to achieving higher living standards. In Iceland, the average household net-adjusted disposable income per capita is lower than the OECD average of USD 25 908 a year.

In terms of employment, some 82% of people aged 15 to 64 in Iceland have a paid job, above the OECD employment average of 65%, and the highest rate in the OECD. Some 84% of men are in paid work, compared with 80% of women. 

Good education and skills are important requisites for finding a job. In Iceland, 71% of adults aged 25-64 have completed upper secondary education, below the OECD average of 75%. This is truer of men than women, as 73% of men have successfully completed high-school compared with 69% of women. In terms of the quality of its educational system, the average student scored 484 in reading literacy, maths and science in the OECD’s Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). This score is lower than the OECD average of 497. On average in Iceland, girls outperformed boys by 20 points, a wider gender gap than the OECD average of 8 points.

In terms of health, life expectancy at birth in Iceland is 83 years, three years higher than the OECD average of 80 years, and one of the highest in the OECD. Life expectancy for women is 84 years, compared with 82 for men. The level of atmospheric PM10 – tiny air pollutant particles small enough to enter and cause damage to the lungs – is 17.6 micrograms per cubic meter in large urban areas, lower than the OECD average of 20.1 micrograms per cubic meter. Iceland also does well in terms of water quality, as 97% of people say they are satisfied with the quality of their water, considerably higher than the OECD average of 81%%, and the highest rate in the OECD.

Concerning the public sphere, there is a strong sense of community and high levels of civic participation in Iceland, where 96% of people believe that they know someone they could rely on in time of need, higher than the OECD average of 88%, and the highest figure in the OECD. Voter turnout, a measure of citizens’ participation in the political process, was 81% during recent elections; higher than the OECD average of 68%. Voter turnout for the top 20% of the population is an estimated 84% and for the bottom 20% it is an estimated 74%, slightly narrower than the OECD average gap of 13 percentage points.

In general, Icelanders are more satisfied with their lives than the OECD average. When asked to rate their general satisfaction with life on a scale from 0 to 10,Icelanders gave it a 7.5 grade, one of the highest scores in the OECD, where average life satisfaction is 6.6.