Doctoral defense in education science: Sigríður Margrét Sigurðardóttir

Sigríður Margrét Sigurðardóttir defends her PhD thesis in Educational Sciences from the Faculty of Education and Pedagogy, University of Iceland:

 Dissertation title: Educational leadership at the municipal level in Iceland: What shapes it, its characteristics and what it means for school practices

 The oral defence takes place Thursday, June 8, at 1:00 pm in the Aula in the main building of the University of Iceland.

Opponents: Opponents are Dr. Karen Seashore Louis Regents Professor Emerita at University of Minnesota, USA, and Dr. Pia Skott Senior Lecturer at Stockholm University, Sweden.

 Main supervisor: Main supervisor was Dr. Anna Kristín Sigurðardóttir Professor at the University of Iceland, School of Education, and co-supervisor Dr. Börkur Hansen at the University of Iceland, School of Education.

Expert in the Doctoral Committee was Dr. Rúnar Sigþórsson, Professor Emeritus at the University of Akureyri.

Dr. Kristín Jónsdóttir Head of the Faculty of Education and Pedagogy will conduct the ceremony.

This doctoral study focuses on educational leadership at the municipal level in Iceland. Firstly, it aims to understand how leadership practices are shaped by policies and governance at the national, municipal and school levels, within a global and transnational context. Secondly, it aims to understand the characteristics of these leadership practices: how they are shaped by the diversity of municipal contexts and how those practices harmonize with municipalities’ legal obligations towards compulsory education. Thirdly, it seeks to explore how municipal leadership affects school practices, in particular their ability to grow as professional institutions. The focus is mainly on understanding municipal leadership through the practices of the school support services as an important platform.

The methodological approach is that of an embedded single-case study, with the case being municipal educational leadership in Iceland. The study applies mixed methods and is broken into four units of analysis, each with sub-questions that feed into the aim in different ways. The different methods were applied almost consecutively, following the course of the units: document analysis, content analysis, national survey and a cross-case study. The units correspond to each of the four papers that were generated from this study and present the findings. They were presented in a book chapter and three research journal articles, which of one is still in draft form.

The study makes a theoretical and practical contribution to the continuing debate about schooling in Iceland; specifically, it contributes to the thinking around how the municipal level – and national level – might contribute in terms of policy, governance and leadership coherence. The main findings indicate that global influences have put their mark on leadership practices at national and municipal level. Political instability, lack of scaffolding, coherence in governance and leadership capacity at the national level, have affected the way municipal educational leadership has been established. The municipalities appear not to have developed leadership practices sufficiently for educational purposes. Their practices seem to overly depend on the people who are employed rather than guided by policy and strategic planning. Particular attention must be paid to strengthening human resources at the municipal level, especially in the more remote municipalities. It seems that limited educational leadership capacity and coherence at both national and municipal level undermines schools’ capacity to develop as professional institutions and provide inclusive education. The study makes the point that both national and municipal levels need to take more responsibility regarding their educational policy, governance and leadership practices.

 About the candidate:

Sigríður Margrét Sigurðardóttir completed a teacher degree from the Nødvendige Seminarium in Denmark 1998 and a M.Ed. degree in educational sciences with emphasis on management and leadership from the University of Akureyri, Iceland 2010. Sigríður Margrét is an Assistant Professor at the University of Akureyri and has worked there since 2009. Previously she was a compulsory school teacher and a principal in Iceland.

All welcome