Doctoral defense in education science: Kolfinna Jóhannesdóttir

Kolfinna Jóhannesdóttir defends her PhD thesis in Educational Sciences from the Faculty of Education and Pedagogy, University of Iceland:

Policy on school autonomy over curriculum development: A case study of four upper secondary schools in Iceland

The oral defence takes place Thursday, October 12, at 1:00 pm in the Aula in the main building of the University of Iceland as well as in live stream.

Link to live stream

Opponents are Dr Gunnlaugur Magnússon associate professor at Uppsala University, Sweden and Dr Gita Steiner Khamsi at Columbia University, New York.

Main supervisor was Dr Anna Kristín Sigurðardóttir Professor at the School of Education, University of Iceland, and co-supervisor Dr Andrew Townsend Professor at The University of Nottingham. 

Expert in the Doctoral Committee was Dr Jón Torfi Jónasson Professor emeritus at the School of Education, University of Iceland.

Dr Karen Rut Gísladóttir professor at the Faculty of Education and Pedagogy will conduct the ceremony.

All are welcome!

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About the project:

This thesis explores the policy on increased school autonomy over curriculum development in upper secondary schools in Iceland which was introduced in 2008. The main arguments for the establishment of the policy were the need for more diverse study due to societal changes and the growing numbers of students entering upper secondary schools after completing compulsory education. The aim of this study is to increase understanding of how this policy has been understood and enacted by school stakeholders and what they believe it has accomplished for students. A multiple case study of four schools was designed to explore the implications of the policy, both within the context of each school and also across the schools. Two main sources of data are used: interviews as the primary source and documents to provide contextual data on the schools and support evidence gathered from the interviews. The schools were visited in 2018 and interviews were conducted with school leaders, teachers, students and parents.

The study demonstrates how the interplay between a range of contextual factors influenced the way each school perceived their scope and ability to utilise the policy to make changes, notably divided professional beliefs, financial challenges and barriers, and the impact of students’ choice. Findings reveal a disparity between what school leaders and teachers expected from the policy and what they experienced when enacting it in their local context. This was largely due to the impact of other policy initiatives, notably the shortening of the study time for matriculation, increased bureaucracy, and more complex administration. These created challenges for school leaders as managers of change, particularly in relation to the policy’s impact on teachers’ job security. In terms of the stated aim of the policy and what has been accomplished for students, evidence of greater diversity of study was identified, but this varied considerably between schools and across subjects, demonstrating the importance of understanding the policy effects in relation to the specific context of each school. While students reported that greater flexibility and moves away from summative assessments had created study better suited to their needs, barriers to equal access to study remain, due to academic, geographical and demographic constraints. The study concludes by providing recommendations for policy development and suggesting that further measures are required if the policy and students’ choice are to function together effectively in the Icelandic context.

About the doctoral candidate

Kolfinna Jóhannesdóttir has a bachelor´s degree in business administration and master´s degree in applied economics from Bifröst University. She has diploma in education – teachers certification from Reykjavík University and finished postgraduate diploma in educational leadership and management from the University of Nottingham in 2014. Kolfinna was a teacher at the Agricultural University of Iceland 2010-2011, head teacher at Borgarfjordur High School 2011-2014 and mayor of Borgarbyggð 2014-2016. She started work at the Directorate of Education in 2016, first as specialist and teamleader for upper secondary school affairs and later as head of analysis from 2018-2022. She was appointed as head teacher for the Woman´s School in Reykjavík in autumn 2022. Kolfinna started her PhD study in education at the University of Nottingham in autumn 2016 and transferred her study to Unversity of Iceland in spring 2020.