Lengi framan af var framhaldsskólamenntun til stúdentsprófs aðeins fyrir fáa útvalda úr efri
lögum samfélagsins. Með tímanum jókst aðgengið og nú er framhaldsskólum á Íslandi skylt að
mennta öll ungmenni undir 18 ára aldri sem lokið hafa grunnskólaprófi. Stór hluti þeirra þreytir
stúdentspróf. Nám til stúdentsprófs hefur þróast og breyst undanfarna áratugi og þar kemur ekki
eingöngu til stækkandi hópur nemenda sem sækja framhaldsskólann heldur ekki síður tilteknir
alþjóðlegir menntastraumar og samfélagsbreytingar sem hafa sett mark sitt á kerfið. Þessar
breytingar hafa snert framhaldsskólana og starfsaðstæður innan hvers þeirra en þó með misjöfnum
hætti. Með þessari rannsókn var ætlunin að skoða starfsaðstæður kennara og stjórnenda; a) hvort
og þá hvernig þær hefðu breyst á 20 ára tímabili, b) hvort og þá hvernig hugmyndir viðmælenda
mörkuðust af ólíku félagslegu samhengi og markaðsstöðu skóla og c) hvort munur væri á upplifun
kennara annars vegar og stjórnenda hins vegar. Rannsóknin byggðist á einstaklingsviðtölum við
átta reynda kennara og stjórnendur í fjórum íslenskum framhaldsskólum. Val á framhaldsskólum
í rannsókninni miðaðist við skóla með annaðhvort hátt eða lágt höfnunarhlutfall við inntöku.
Í ljós kom verulegur munur milli skóla eftir höfnunarhlutfalli. Stefnubreytingar stjórnvalda
varðandi styttingu og fræðsluskyldu orkuðu ólíkt á skóla eftir markaðsstöðu þeirra þó að allir
viðmælendur hafi verið neikvæðir gagnvart henni. Hins vegar voru aðrar breytingar sem orkuðu
með svipuðum hætti á viðmælendur, eins og aukið álag og foreldrasamstarf og almenn ánægja
með hækkun sjálfræðisaldurs. Munur á skoðunum og viðhorfum kennara og stjórnenda var lítill
og frekar að skoðanir væru skiptar milli skóla en milli viðmælenda innan sama skóla.
Upper-secondary schools in Iceland are obligated to offer education to everyone under
the age of 18, who has finished compulsory school. The greater part of these students
then continue and complete their matriculation examinations (i. Stúdentspróf).
During the past few decades, there have been both socio-economic and policy
changes in Iceland, leading to an increase in the number of students attending uppersecondary school. The increase has also been fuelled by neoliberal and transnational
policy forces which have influenced the educational system. The aim of this research
is to study working conditions of teachers and supervisors, focusing on; a) whether,
and then how, their conditions have changed during the past twenty years, b)
whether, and then how, the ideas of those who were interviewed were influenced
by the school’s social context and market value and c) whether there was a noticeable
difference between teachers and supervisors in how they experienced this change at
their schools.
In 1999 a new main curriculum policy for upper-secondary schools was implemented.
Among changes made was the reduction of academic tracks down to three. In 2008
laws were passed that required upper-secondary schools to revise every stage and
study-track and made it compulsory for the upper-secondary education system to
accept everyone under the age of 18 who had finished primary school. Additionally,
these laws allowed for a reduction of units required to finish upper-secondary
school. Recently, the minister of education changed the studying time required for
matriculation exam, from four years to three. Apart from formal policy changes
there have been transformative social and educational changes regarding technical
innovations, smart phones and interconnection programmes of all kinds which have
encouraged individualisation in learning.
Neoliberalism has shaped educational policy and practice in Iceland in step with
the Nordic countries, emphasizing marketization, neo-managerialism, choices and
individual risks and responsibilities. It is clear that those changes have affected the
upper-secondary schools and the working conditions within them.
This research was built on individual interviews with eight experienced teachers and
school supervisors within four different Icelandic upper-secondary schools. All of
the persons interviewed had been involved with their school for more than twenty
years. Eight interviews were conducted with four secondary school teachers and four
managers (field-supervisors/vice-principals). The schools chosen for participation
provided a good spectrum of upper secondary-schools in Iceland. Two of them have
one of the lowest rejection rates in the country, as they rarely reject a student that
applies for the school, while the other two schools are amongst those that have the
highest rejection rate. The lower-ranking schools have a much wider age distribution
of students than the elite schools.
This study revealed a considerable difference in how school staff in schools with a
high rejection rate and schools with a low rejection rate experienced changes in the
education system. While some changes within the education system seemed to affect
all the schools in a similar way, for example increased pressure due to change of age
of majority (from 16 to 18) and parent cooperation, other changes such as government
policy regarding the reduction in teaching hours, lesson units and allocated study
time, showed a drastic difference in experience. The study indicated no noticeable difference in the views and attitudes of teachers
and supervisors. While revealing an obvious difference in how the various schools
experienced these changes, the study recorded hardly any difference within the same
school, since both teachers and supervisors seem to be experiencing the same situation
within their own school.
Working conditions of teachers and supervisors have certainly changed during the
past twenty years although the changes seem to have been more strongly felt in the
schools which have a low rejection rate than in those with a higher rejection rate.
Even though all the interviewees experienced a change under the new regulations, for
example regarding the diversity of the student group, this difference was considerably
greater in schools with a low market value.
