Ingvar Sigurgeirsson professorSchool of Education, University of Iceland:

A Flexible Learning Environment: A Personalized Program.

Lessons from a Case Study of a small Icelandic Secondary School

RETAIN – Retention in Education and Training conference 22-23 October 2009

Hotel 11, Göteborg (Gothenburg), Sweden

Laugar Comprehensive

• A small upper secondary school in the North of Iceland, 120 students, 12 teachers

• Four tracks: Social science, Natural science, Sports, and General studies (Special education)

• Relatively many students with learning problems

The Icelandic School System

• Teach less! – Students learn more!• More active learning• Build stronger student–teacher relations• Students take more responsibility for their

learning

A Flexible Learning Environment: A Personalized Program (2006-)

The Icelandic dropout problem

• Over 90% of students at the age of 16 proceed to upper secondary school (which is optional)

• Around 40% of students at the age of 24 have not finished upper seconary school

(About 20% finish upper secondary school after the age of 24)

Why is this dropout prevalent?

• Secondary school takes too many years to complete (four years)!

• Too much flexibility!?• Pressure on students to choose academic rather

than vocational programs• Work opportunities (may be changing)• The “throw out” problem• Overloaded and often irrelevant curriculum• Passive, monotone teaching methods

The workshops

School should resemble a good workplace!

Working closer with students and listening to their voices

• Mixed-age mentor groups– Weekly meetings

• Weekly house-conferences

• Regular assessment meetings (focus groups)

• Surveys (in various forms)– Formal end of term assessment / evaluation

Students´ comments

• The teachers here help you much more than teachers in other schools where I have been and they know your work much better… The teachers also show good understanding of your weaknesses and they don’t use them against you.

• The teachers know every single student quite well and what is unique about each person.

• The teachers are very good and they do not approach me as an object, but as a person.

Improving the curriculum• Projects

• Creative assigments

• Individualizing the curriculum

• Breaking up routines

• Problem-based learning

Progress

• Dropout from school has diminished • Less dropout from courses • Completion of assignments in courses has

greatly improved• Last autumn the school set a record in the

number of applications• Grades have gone up or from 6,3 to 7,4 on a

scale were the highest grade is 10,0• Positive attitudes: Students, parents, staff

Main obstacles

• Some teacher feel uncomfortable in the new role

• Some students have not adapted

• Teachers’ contracts do not support alternative arrangements

• Overloaded, centralized, national curriculum

Why was the project successful?

• Staff collaboration and committment

• Understanding of complexities

• Continous evaluation measures

• Listening to students’ voices and respecting their attitudes

Thank you!