Uppeldi og menntun - 01.01.2010, Page 67

Uppeldi og menntUn/icelandic JoUrnal of edUcation 19(1–2)/2010 67
BörKUr HanSen, ÓlafUr H. JÓHannSSon og SteinUnn Helga lárUSdÓttir
Ólafur H. Jóhannsson (olafurhe@hi.is) er lektor við Menntavísindasvið Háskóla Íslands.
Hann lauk kennaraprófi frá Kennaraskóla Íslands árið 1966, B.A.-prófi í félagsfræði frá
Háskóla Íslands árið 1974 og M.Ed.-prófi í stjórnun menntastofnana frá Háskólanum
í Bristol árið 1988. Rannsóknir hans hafa einkum beinst að skólastjórnun, skólaþróun,
mati á skólastarfi og skólasögulegu efni.
Steinunn Helga Lárusdóttir (shl@hi.is) er lektor við Menntavísindasvið Háskóla Íslands.
Hún lauk kennaraprófi frá Kennaraháskóla Íslands árið 1975, M.Ed.-prófi í mennta-
stjórnun frá Háskólanum í Illinois, Urbana-Champain árið 1982 og doktorsprófi frá
Lundúnaháskóla 2008. Rannsóknir hennar hafa einkum beinst að skólastjórnun,
skólaþróun og kynjafræðum.
Professional independence of basic schools in Iceland
Views of principals
aBstraCt
Context
In 1995 the governance of basic schools (age 6–16) in Iceland was transferred from
state to municipal control. One of the main reasons for this policy change was to
enhance the operational and professional independence of basic schools. The 1995 Basic
School Act stated that each municipality was mandated to establish a school board for
governing its basic schools. The Act also states that principals are professional leaders
of their schools. Since 1995, many school boards have developed municipal education
policy documents. These policy documents state various policy ends concerning the
operation, management and curriculum of schools. Accordingly, it is of interest to
examine how these municipal policies have affected the professional independence
of basic schools and the role of principals as professional leaders. Previous research
indicates that principals are generally very pleased with the transfer of basic schools
from state to municipal control. Research amongst teachers, however, indicates that
they do not share this sentiment as they don’t feel involved in the operation and
management of schools and perceive themselves as subordinates rather than active
participants in school affairs.
In order to contextualize the governance structure of basic schools in Iceland, the
governance of compulsory schools in our neighbor Scandinavian countries – Norway,
Denmark and Sweden – is outlined in the article.