Alþjóðlegar rannsóknir hafa sýnt fram á ólíka stöðu bóknáms- og starfsnámsbrauta
í framhaldsskólum hvað varðar inntak náms, félagslega virðingu, réttlæti og
tækifæri til framhaldsmenntunar. Þetta hefur einnig verið umræðuefni hér á landi
í næstum heila öld. Markmið greinarinnar er að skoða hvernig ólík staða bóknámsog starfsnámsbrauta, með tilliti til virðingar, áherslu og forgangs, birtist í íslensku
menntakerfi. Umfjöllunin er í þremur meginköflum: (1) Hlutverk og áhrif ytri
stýringar – þá er sérstaklega vísað til menntastefnu stjórnvalda, til háskólastigsins
og til atvinnulífsins; (2) Umgjörð framhaldsskóla og hvað kann að hafa áhrif á val
nemenda; (3) Fyrirkomulag kennslu og mismunandi afstaða kennara. Leitast er við
að varpa ljósi á þessa þætti með því að skoða annars vegar námskrár, skýrslur og
önnur opinber gögn sem tengjast viðfangsefninu og hins vegar gögn úr rannsókninni
Starfshættir í framhaldsskólum. Niðurstöðurnar ber allar að sama brunni: Ólík staða
bóknáms- og starfsnáms er bæði kerfislæg og félagsleg og rætur hennar og tilvist er
víða að finna. Birtingarmyndir ólíkrar stöðu komu fram í öllum meginköflunum.
Stöðumun var að finna í viðhorfum í opinberri menntastefnu, í aðsókn og aðgengi
að framhaldsskólanámi, kennsluháttum í framhaldsskólum og tækifærum að námi
loknu. Mikilvægt er að skoða niðurstöðurnar í samhengi við jafnrétti til náms, tilgang
menntunar og það hvernig ráðandi viðhorf lita stjórnsýslu menntamála, samfélagslega
afstöðu og starfshætti í skólum, jafnvel þó að opinber stefnumótun einkennist af hinu
gagnstæða og yfirlýst stefna sé að efla starfsnám.
In a European context, there has long been a discussion on the problem of parity of
esteem between vocational education and training (VET) and general academic upper
secondary education (see for example CEDEFOP, 2014; Lasonen & Young, 1998;
Parkes, 1993). VET education does not enjoy the same status as general academic
upper secondary education, which usually provides a pathway to higher education.
The disparity of esteem between these two educational pathways reveals itself, for
example, in differences in social standing, content taught, and the ability of students
entering the programs. This, in turn, has consequences for social justice and future
prospects of students (Nylund et al., 2018).
The disparity of esteem has been debated in Iceland for the better part of a century
(Jón Torfi Jónasson, 1994). Despite regular declarations from various stakeholders
of the need to strengthen VET, little has changed over the years. Jón Torfi Jónasson
(1998a) identified the diverse forces working against VET at the upper secondary
level in Iceland, some including the very stakeholders vowing support. There have
been several attempts to address the apparent parity divide, showing a variety of
very deliberate attempts to de-institutionalize the divide between vocational and
academic tracks. The most recent examples are the educational reform in Iceland in
2008 and a curriculum overhaul in 2011 (lög um framhaldsskóla [Upper Secondary
Education Act] nr. 92/2008; Mennta- og menningarmálaráðuneytið [Ministry of
Education, Science and Culture], 2012). A white paper on education reform (Menntaog menningarmálaráðuneytið [Ministry of Education, Science and Culture], 2014),
also presented a clear policy directive to enhance the status of vocational education.
Despite these efforts, a disparity in esteem between vocational and general academic
pathways seems evident and the resilience of the issue begs further investigation.
The aim of the paper is to explore the disparity between vocational and academic
programs in contemporary upper secondary education in Iceland from three
perspectives: 1) External forces with a focus on educational policy documents, as
well as the impact of the university level and the world of work. 2) The setting of
upper secondary education and what influences students’ choice of upper secondary
education. 3) Teaching practices and teacher experiences as compared across these two
pathways at upper secondary schools. Considering these three different perspectives
provides us with a cross-sectional view of how the disparity potentially reveals itself.
In our analysis we draw upon different sources of data. We used various public
documents, including the Act for the upper secondary school level (lög um
framhaldsskóla [Upper Secondary Education Act] nr. 92/2008) and the National
Curriculum Guide (Mennta- og menningarmálaráðuneytið [Ministry of Education,
Science and Culture], 2012). Additionally, we used upper secondary school websites
to gauge different admission requirements, as well as examining data from Statistics
Iceland. We also used interview data and classroom observations from a comprehensive
study conducted in nine upper secondary schools in Iceland between 2013 and 2014
(Gerður G. Óskarsdóttir og rannsóknarhópurinn, 2018). The nine upper secondary
schools were selected on the basis of stratified sampling. Here, we used data from 115
classroom observations, interviews with 21 school leaders and 22 teachers to compare
teaching practices and analyze participants’ perception on the impact of different
social structures and stakeholders on these two educational pathways.
Our findings show that a disparity between vocational and general academic upper
secondary education still exists in Iceland. The parity of esteem issue reveals itself in various ways across the three different perspectives considered. The status of the
subjects belonging to vocational education, on the one hand, and general academic
education, on the other, is seen to differ when consulting the National Curriculum
Guide (Mennta- og menningarmálaráðuneytið [Ministry of Education, Science and
Culture], 2012) and the Upper Secondary Education Act (lög um framhaldsskóla)
No. 92/2008. The Guide and the Act are silent about individual vocational subjects,
while the core subjects, English, mathematics, and Icelandic, are almost exclusively
discussed in both public papers. The disparity is, inter alia, inherent in the admission
requirements of upper secondary schools. Students enrolling in VET pathways are
not required to have as high grades at the end of compulsory education as students
enrolling in general academic pathways. In addition, entry requirements are almost
exclusively based on academic competences and traditions. The teaching practices
and classroom work varied in important ways between the observed VET classes
and the more general academic classes. Individualized teaching practices were more
common within the VET classes and group work more frequently used in the general
academic classes. The VET classes were also of longer duration. The interviews with
teachers revealed deep-seated differences in the status of VET and general academic
programs, demonstrating that VET teachers generally have the challenge of teaching
a more diverse student group, in terms of academic ability, learning disabilities, and
age.
Hence, the overall results show that academic trends dominate the system of upper
secondary education in Iceland, undermining the status of vocational education. The
findings give rise to complex questions on social justice in education, the need to
discuss the aims of education, and how a controlling conservative attitude permeates
the education system, even though public policy preaches the opposite.
