Creating Meaningful Learning Opportunities Online

This paper describe the ways in which the authors have used digital pedagogy to address the loneliness of the distance learner by making their online course more inclusive and interactive

Working together for the inclusion of immigrant pupils: A case study of a rural community in Iceland

Global migration brings new challenges and opportunities for schools, as they are becoming more diverse in terms of pupils’ mother tongues, ethnicities, religions, and sociocultural resources. In case of Iceland, this is a relatively new reality. While there has been some research with immigrant pupils internationally, most studies focus on urban areas. This article reports on a case study in a rural compulsory school in Iceland. The research question was: How does a rural school understand and work for inclusion and participation of immigrant pupils? Indepth interviews with immigrant pupils and their teachers together with observations were applied. The simultaneous thematic analysis included coding of the data and sorting it into themes by discovering recurrent routines and interaction patterns. The concepts of inclusion and local agency were used as a theoretical framework. Findings suggest that teachers are the key agents in inclusion of immigrant pupils. Despite lack of extensive experience or special agenda regarding immigrant pupils, the teachers and school principal manage to involve all pupils in the process of learning. Moreover, the support of local municipality and caring relations with the school personnel have a positive impact on pupils’ feeling of belonging and encourage their participation.Vísinda- og rannsóknarsjóður Suðurlands, Þróunarsjóður innflytjendamála, The Doctoral Grants of The University of Iceland Research FundPeer Reviewe

Working together for the inclusion of immigrant pupils : A case study of a rural community in Iceland

This research has been funded by the grant from the South Iceland Science and Research Fund (Vísinda- og rannsóknarsjóður Suðurlands), from the Development Fund for Immigration Issues (Þróunarsjóður innflytjendamála) and from The Doctoral Grants of The University of Iceland Research FundPeer reviewedPublisher PD

Breaking Free from the Needs Paradigm: A Collaborative Analysis of Inclusion

The Version of Record of this manuscript has been published and is available in Studying Teacher Education 2019 http://www.tandfonline.com/doi:10.1080/17425964.2018.1541290This self-study, based on research, conducted over five years, focuses on my leadership role employing an inclusion model of education in a school in Iceland serving students from ages 6 to 16. In this article, we examine how Edda’s practice helped support inclusion for the students, their families, and the teachers who engage with them. This multilayered self-study research project included feedback and insights from others in order to inform my understanding of my practice within the context of inclusion. Findings reveal Edda’s focus on the discourse of diagnosis as a dominant structural issue within her practice. The resulting themes on perceptions of inclusion, coordination of support, deployment of people, and collaboration across different entities have informed my understanding about my practice and my perspective on the meaning of a support system within inclusive education and improved student performance.Peer Reviewe

Policies for Inclusion in Iceland : possibilities and Challenges

publishedVersio

Using Self-Study to Develop a Third Space for Collaborative Supervision of Master's Projects in Teacher Education

Teacher education is constantly being renewed in response to continuous social, economic and technological changes. In 2008, teacher education in Iceland was extended from a three-year to a five-year master’s degree program and this significantly increased the number of students at the master’s level. To respond to these changes, 3 university-based teacher educators organized collaborative supervisory meetings for 18 master’s students during the school years 2012– 2014. We used self-study methodology to analyze our progress and inspire our development as supervisors. The goal was to gain a better understanding of how we learn together in collaborative supervision and to develop, adapt, and change our teaching and learning practices. Data included reflective notes and journals, recordings of students’ and supervisors’ meetings, e-mails, tickets out of class, and material from Moodle. Constant analysis of data was conducted with personal reflection and collective discussion, using theories to scrutinize data. Our findings show that, by working together on supervisory issues, we expanded our resources, strengthened our collaboration and trust, developed our professional identities, and improved our collective supervisory efficacy. We discovered that self-study provided an in-between space for us to explore cultures, roles, and visions as we collaboratively contested, defined and recreated our roles as supervisors.La formacio´n docente pasa por continuos procesos de renovacio´n en respuesta a cambios sociales, econo´micos y tecnolo´gicos. En Islandia en 2008, la formacio´n docente fue extendida de tres an˜os a un programa de ma´ster de cinco an˜os, lo que incremento´ significativamente el numero de estudiantes en el nivel de ma´ster. Para responder a estos cambios, tres formadores de docentes de la universidad organizaron reuniones de supervisio´n colaborativa de 18 estudiantes durante los an˜os 2012– 2014. Utilizamos la metodologı´a del self-study para analizar nuestro progreso e inspirar nuestro desarrollo como supervisores. El propo´sito era desarrollar una mejor comprensio´n de co´mo aprendemos juntos en la supervisio´n colaborativa, y desarrollar, adaptar o cambiar nuestras pra´cticas de ensen˜anza y aprendizaje. Los datos fueron recogidos de notas reflexivas y diarios, grabaciones de reuniones entre supervisores y estudiantes, correos electro´nicos, resu´menes de los alumnos sobre lo aprendido en clase (te´cnica de los tickets resumen), y material de Moodle. El ana´lisis continuo de los datosse llevo´ a cabo con reflexio´n personal y discusio´n colectiva, utilizando teorı´as para examinar los datos. Los hallazgos muestran que, al trabajar juntos en temas de supervisio´n, logramos expandir nuestros recursos, fortalecimos la colaboracio´n y la confianza, desarrollamos nuestras identidades profesionales y mejoramos la eficacia de nuestra supervisio´n. Descubrimos que el self-study provee un espacio intermedio que nos permite explorar culturas, roles y visiones en la medida que colaborativamente discutimos, definimos y recreamos nuestro rol como supervisores.Rannsóknarsjóður Háskóla ÍslandsPeer Reviewe

Að vinna meistaraprófsverkefni í námssamfélagi nemenda og leiðbeinenda

Publisher's version (útgefin grein)Í greininni er fjallað um sameiginlega hópleiðsögn þriggja leiðbeinenda meistaranema. Tilgangur rannsóknarinnar var að sýna fram á gildi þess að búa til námssamfélag nemenda og kennara um vinnu að meistaraprófsverkefni. Markmið rannsóknarinnar var að auka skilning á vinnuferli nemenda í meistaraprófsverkefni og lýsa því hvernig við byggðum upp námssamfélag þeirra yfir sex ára tímabil. Við nýttum aðferðafræði starfstengdrar sjálfsrýni til að geta betur skilið ferli nemenda í meistaraprófsverkefninu og hvernig við unnum úr áskorunum. Rannsóknargögn eru skráð ígrundun, fundarupptökur og gögn um samskipti við nemendur. Fræðilegur rammi rannsóknarinnar er byggður á hugmyndum um tengsl fræða og kennarastarfs og um ígrundun í anda starfstengdrar sjálfsrýni. Enn fremur byggjum við á hugmyndum um námssamfélög og um nám sem ferðalag um landslag þekkingar. Niðurstöðurnar sýna að nemendur upplifa fundina sem námssamfélag sem veitir þeim stuðning, dregur úr einmanaleika og heldur þeim við efnið í meistaraprófsverkefninu. Ólíkir styrkleikar okkar leiðbeinendanna nýttust vel í samstarfinu og efldu sameiginlega getu okkar til að leiðbeina.Peer Reviewe

Personalizuoto mokymo(si) koncepcijos taikymas universitetinėse studijose: kaip tai veikia?

Personalised learning embraces the elements of mutual ownership by learners and teachers, flexible content, tools and learning environments, targeted support, and data-driven reflection and decision making. The current study utilises a mix of instrumental case study (Stake, 1995) and deductive thematic analysis (Braun, Clarke & Terry, 2015; Terry et al., 2017) methods to explore the accounts of students of two teacher education study programmes at Vilnius University. The programmes were innovated to include practices of personalised learning in line with the framework developed by partners of the Erasmus+ Strategic Partnership Project INTERPEARL (Innovative Teacher Education through Personalised Learning). The results yielded three major themes which capture the successes and setbacks the students face, namely, personalisation in vivo: facilitation of growth as a would-be teacher; personalisation not manifest: what does not work; and personalisation in the making: the dos and don’ts.Personalizuotą mokymą(si) sudaro keturi pagrindiniai principai: 1) abipusė mokytojo ir besimokančiojo atsakomybė; 2) lankstus turinys, priemonės ir mokymosi aplinka; 3) tikslingas mokymas(is); bei 4) duomenimis grindžiami sprendimai ir refleksija. Šiame tyrime taikant instrumentinės atvejo studijos (Stake, 1995) ir dedukcinės teminės analizės (Braun, Clarke & Terry, 2015; Terry ir kt., 2017) metodus buvo tiriamos dviejų Vilniaus universiteto mokytojų rengimo studijų programų studentų savistatos apie mokymo(si) personalizavimo patirtis studijų metu. Programos buvo atnaujintos įtraukiant į jas inovatyvias personalizuoto mokymo(si) praktikas pagal „Erasmus+’ strateginių partnerysčių projekto „Inovatyvus mokytojų ugdymas taikant personalizuotą mokymą(si)’ (angl. Innovative Teacher Education through Personalised Learning (INTERPEARL) partnerių sukurtas gaires. Rezultatai atskleidė tris pagrindines temas, kurios atspindi sėkmingas ir nesėkmingas studentų patirtis: personalizavimas in vivo: būsimojo mokytojo augimo skatinimas; kai personalizavimo nėra: kas neveikia; ir personalizavimo tapsmas: ką daryti, o ko ne

Personalized learning within teacher education: A framework and guidelines

A key challenge for teacher education globally is to ‘equip all teachers for effective learning in the 21st century’ (OECD 2011). In Higher Education, as well asschooling, the ground isshifting, ‘quietly but steadily’, away from a teacher‐centred to a learner centred approach, through which educators increasingly ‘adapt their teaching in accordance with a more complex understandings of human learning’ (Bok 2006, p. 342). The learning paradigm is consistent with the view that, in an ever changing world, which requires creative minds, the best thing we can do for our students is to teach them ‘how to learn’ (Weimer 2002, p. 50). This shift from a teaching, to a learning, paradigm demands a new generation of aspiring teachers who are themselves, self‐directed learners. To achieve this, teacher education programmes need to facilitate student teachers to fully understand and experience the importance and transformative impact of personalised learning so that they, in turn, can help future students to be confident, reflective, autonomous learners. This paper describes the outcomes of an Erasmus + project2 to develop a Framework and Guidance for Personalized Learning within Teacher Education and to implement and test innovative personalised learning practices across teacher education institutions to promote creativity, critical thinking and the active participation of learners in taking responsibility for their own learning and achievement. The paper explores the theoretical and practice elements that together inform the concept of personalised learning. These insights are then used to develop a Framework for Personalized Learning within Teacher Education. In addition, the final chapter outlines pedagogical strategies to support the development of personalised learning that were tested during the project within the participating universities. The Framework and Guidelines are intended for use by to teacher educators and their students, as well as by teachers and studentsin schools, to support the on‐going shift towards a personalised learning and collaborative paradigm which forefronts learner agency and autonomy and encourageslearners of all agesto assume increased responsibility for their own learning and achievements

Teaching Diverse Learners in Europe: Inspiring Practices and Lessons Learned from Germany, Iceland, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Spain and Sweden

Teaching in inclusive settings may be considered a new, challenging task; however, successfully supporting diverse pupils in their learning process has always been at the heart of outstanding pedagogy. Vast differences both in the extent and the quality of inclusive schooling exist between and within European countries. Promoting comparison and cooperation among countries with long-institutionalized inclusive schooling and countries with less inclusive structures, cultures, and practices proves crucial in education research and reform. Building upon a multi-year collaboration, we synthesize lessons learned about inclusive education reforms and “inspiring practices“ in inclusive education in partner schools in Germany, Iceland, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Spain, and Sweden. Contemporary practices take the diversity of groups of learners into account, building upon diversity as a resource; this served as the framework for our collaboration. The TdiverS consortium—as an EU-funded Comenius Network Project “Teaching Diverse Learners in (School-)Subjects“ (TdiverS)—was built on the following principles and goals: (1) diversity in theory and practice, resulting from collaborations of practitioners and scientists exchanging knowledge about teaching in inclusive settings; (2) strengthening awareness of the diversity of frameworks, conditions, and determining factors of teaching inclusively in varying cultural contexts; and (3) inclusive education research uniting multilevel, multicultural, and multidisciplinary perspectives. We highlight the values of inclusive education, map its contemporary European geography, summarize contemporary country-level education reforms and the local development of inclusive practices in six countries, and discuss lessons learned across Northern, Eastern, Southern, and Western Europe