“Between a rock and a hard place“: Teachers’ experience of professional autonomy for inclusive practice with 14-16 year old students at compulsory school level in Iceland

Hér er fjallað um reynslu kennara á unglingastigi grunnskóla af því að vinna í anda stefnu um skóla án aðgreiningar. Tekin voru eigindleg viðtöl við sex umsjónarkennara í jafnmörgum grunnskólum í fjórum bæjarfélögum á höfuðborgarsvæðinu. Niðurstöður leiddu í ljós að þeir upplifðu miklar skorður af völdum: a) formgerðar grunnskólans á efri stigum sem þeim þótti hafa tekið mun minni breytingum í átt að skóla án aðgreiningar en yngri stig grunnskólans, b) tiltekinna menntastrauma og stefna sem þeim fannst vinna gegn skóla án aðgreiningar og loks c) skorts á faglegum stuðningi í takt við starfsaðstæður þeirra. Það var skoðun kennaranna að jaðarsetning sumra nemenda yrði meira afgerandi eftir því sem á skólagönguna liði. Kennararnir upplifðu sig oft og tíðum eins og milli steins og sleggju þar sem þeim væri gert erfitt um vik að tengja hlutverk sitt sem umsjónarkennarar þekkingu og björgum sem þeir hefðu yfir að ráða. Hjá öllum viðmælendunum kom fram að faglegt sjálfstæði hefði rýrnað og björgum fækkað á síðustu árum, sem rekja mætti til aukinnar markaðs- og stjórnunarvæðingar, og lítið svigrúm gæfist fyrir vangaveltur um siðferðilegt hlutverk og inntak skólans. Kennurunum varð tíðrætt um mikilvægi þess að þeir væru hafðir með í ráðum í hvers kyns stefnumótun í kennslu.Inclusive education is based on core values of human rights, democracy and equality. The research question is inspired by the authors’ experience of how some students move silently closer to the social margins as they draw nearer to the end of compulsory education in spite of the teacher’s full intention and effort that all students feel equally valued and active participants from beginning until the end of compulsory school. In the Icelandic Compulsory Education Act (Lög um grunnskóla nr. 91/2008) it is stated that any form of alienation is rejected and the aim is to protect students who for any reasons are socially vulnerable or in danger of not gaining full access to everyday school life. The aim of this research is to explore teachers’ experience of inclusive teaching of students in secondary classroom settings (14-16 year-old). The macro structures, as well as policy and institutional features are the main focus, and how these shape and influence teachers’ professional autonomy, ideals and values. This is a qualitative interview study. Six semi-structured interviews were conducted with teachers in six compulsory schools in four different municipalities which were all part of the metropolitan area of Reykjavík. The schools were located in socially different areas of the Reykjavík metropolitan area. The socio-cultural classroom situation was different for each of the teachers as can be gathered from their narratives. All the teachers shared a long-term professional experience (15 years or more), as well as being positive and proactive towards inclusive education. Results indicate that teachers feel openness to schooling practices and opportunities for inclusivity diminish closer to the end of compulsory schooling. The teachers sometimes felt stuck between a rock and a hard place as it was made difficult for them to balance their role between being a classroom teacher and their working conditions and resources. All participants felt that formal access to resources was delivered and defined by other professions, as for example how much and what kind of assistance or support is needed. Teachers’ ideas of democracy in education with active student participation were clearly defined but had no resonance with the individualization that emphasizes competition and, as a result, often works against the ideology of the inclusive school and its educational principles. Values that do not pertain to rules of the market are marginalized and there is little space for questions on the content and ethical value of schools, teachers and other influences on school work. Teachers mentioned the importance of their direct participation in policy making or agenda pertaining to teaching. There was a clear call for increased flexibility in the school framework, smaller classes and more emphasis on offering art and craftPeer Reviewe

“Then it is crucial to get some external person with respectability to the meetings”: Mothering practices and collaboration with teachers and professionals to secure their autistic children’s schooling and professional services – Bourdieusian class analysis

Markmið rannsóknarinnar var að skoða reynslu mæðra af samskiptum við kennara og annað fagfólk á menntavettvangi í ljósi ólíkrar stéttarstöðu. Meginefniviður rannsóknarinnar er sex hálfopin einstaklingsviðtöl við mæður grunnskólabarna á einhverfurófi og tvö upplýsingaviðtöl við sérfræðinga á vettvangi stjórnsýslu. Kenningarammi Bourdieu var nýttur til að greina hvernig bakgrunnur mæðranna, með áherslu á efnahags-, menningar- og félagsauð, markaði stöðu þeirra, samskipti og væntingar á vettvangi menntunar. Kerfisbundið aðgengi mæðranna að ráðgjöf og stuðningi varð minna, að eigin mati, eftir því sem barnið varð eldra, en þá fór auður þeirra og óformlegt aðgengi að skipta meira máli, og ljóst varð að mæður í millistétt stóðu þá betur að vígi. Félagsauður skipti sköpum og umbreytti stöðu móður í lægri stétt. Félagsauður barst í gegnum sterk fjölskyldutengsl, vinatengsl, tengsl við vinnufélaga og kunningja, og/eða tengsl við aðra foreldra með börn á einhverfurófi. Ólíkur menningarauður birtist í mismiklu a) sjálfsöryggi í samskiptum, b) þekkingu á leikreglum menntavettvangsins og c) virkni í samskiptum við kennara og sérfræðinga. Það er mat höfunda að nauðsynlegt sé að samhæfa betur kerfið milli skólastiga og tryggja að þar sé þekking á stéttamun og tekið sé tillit til hans. Víkka þarf út skilgreiningar á stéttarhugtakinu þannig að það nái einnig til félags- og menningarauðs og beita eigindlegri nálgun til að ná betur að greina ferli, bjargráð og aðgerðir sem ýta undir eða minnka stéttamun og birtingarmyndir hans í íslensku menntakerfi.In Iceland, social class is an understudied field of research in terms of social justice in education. The theoretical purpose of the research was to explore class disposition of mothers of children with learning disabilities in relation to their experience of schooling by using Pierre Bourdieu‘s theoretical framework. Bourdieu’s concepts of habitus, field and capital are used to explore how mothering practices and resources are shaped by their class position, as well as how the education field of compulsory schooling opens up possibilities to some while closing them to others. The practical purposes of this research were to explore parental experience of the school and professional services concerning the education of their autistic child, as well as communication with their child’s teachers and other professionals at school. This research is a pilot study in preparation for a more extensive research project on Parental practices, choices and responsibilities within the Icelandic education field, designed and led by the first author, financed by The University of Iceland Research Fund and the Icelandic Equality Fund. In this paper the theoretical and methodological framework of the project is introduced and used to analyse a small dataset, collected for the MA-thesis of the second author, comprising a total of eight semi-structured interviews. The main interviewees were six mothers of children with autism spectrum disorder, and supplementary interviews were taken with a project manager of inclusive education at the Reykjavík Municipality educational office and a worker from a grassroots consultancy centre (Icel. Sjónarhóll) for parents of children with special needs. This research is a pilot study in preparation for a more extensive research project on Parental practices, choices and responsibilities within the Icelandic education field, designed and led by the first author, financed by The University of Iceland Research Fund and the Icelandic Equality Fund. In this paper the theoretical and methodological framework of the project is introduced and used to analyse a small dataset, collected for the MA-thesis of the second author, comprising a total of eight semi-structured interviews. The main interviewees were six mothers of children with autism spectrum disorder, and supplementary interviews were taken with a project manager of inclusive education at the Reykjavík Municipality educational office and a worker from a grassroots consultancy centre (Icel. Sjónarhóll) for parents of children with special needs. The mothers who participated in the research belonged to two distinctive class groups in terms of education and occupation. Three counted as middle-class. They had tertiary education degrees, worked as professionals and were married to their children’s fathers who had a similar class position. The lower-class mothers had GCSE or A level equivalent education; two of them struggled with health issues and were not participating in the labour market. None of the three lived with the child´s father and he took no part in the upbringing of the child. Two of them were single mothers and one was co-habiting with a new partner. In a Bourdieusian class analysis the data indicated a clear division between the mothers in terms of economic, cultural and social capital. The SEN-industry in Iceland has intensified and in the compulsory schools access to resources is not guaranteed, resulting in growing insecurity among the mothers with regard to obtaining the services of a paraprofessional to conduct a personalized special-ed programme for their child. This was especially the case after they joined secondary school. Subsequently, parental class resources and capital turned out to be more important. Overall, the middle-class mothers exhibited more confidence in their communication with the school. However, the culture of intensive parenting is rather young in Icelandic education, so all of the mothers were quite afraid of being seen as too pushy and demanding for their children. One of the main contributions of this research is exhibited in the title of this paper. The title is a quote from a middle-class mother, who felt strongly about the importance of having someone with respectability alongside her in the school- and at professional-meetings, in order to obtain needed services and interventions for her child. The middle-class mothers perceived that acquaintance with people who had high enough symbolic capital was helpful in moving things forward for their child. One of the lower-class mothers boosted her social capital by starting to work in her children’s school which gave her invaluable insight into the rules of the game in the field of education and had ground-breaking effects for her child. However, such knowledge and overview was easily accessible to the middle class mothers as they enjoyed more valuable connections through relatives, friends, acquaintances and parent associations.Peer Reviewe

Even in Iceland? Exploring mothers’ narratives on neighbourhood choice in a perceived classless and feminist utopia

The study explores how mothers in Iceland, a relatively new nation state that is perceived as being gender equal, classless and homogeneous, adapt and respond to international trends of consumer cultures. Building on studies about parental neighbourhood choice, parental practices and reproduction of social class, the study’s aim is to examine the local manifestations of those in an international context. To reach this aim, nine interviews with middle-class mothers who live in either disadvantaged or privileged neighbourhoods in terms of income, education level and ethnicity were analysed. Our findings on middle-class anxiety over class reproduction being mediated by neighbourhood and school choice are in accord with international literature. Our findings depart from the literature in the way that social capital reproduction plays out in the most affluent neighbourhood and the importance the most affluent middle-class mothers put on geographical closeness to their extended families.Icelandic Centre for Research [184857-052]Peer Reviewe

Mótun verðuga sjálfsins í menntaskólanum

Í greininni eru greind þau félagslegu og tilfinningalegu átök sem framhaldsskólanemendur upplifa þegar þau ganga í menntaskóla sem þau hafa lært að sé bæði merkilegri og fínni en þeir staðir sem þau hafa fram að því alið manninn á. Þetta eru nemendur sem eiga ekki uppruna sinn í táknrænum heimi borgaralega hvítflibbans heldur koma úr þorpinu eða sveitinni eða eiga sér bláflibbabakgrunn. Nýtt er hugtakalíkan Bourdieu til að greina þá hvata sem verða til þegar veruhátt og vettvang skortir samhljóm og það þykir virðingarvert að laga sig að vettvangi. Gagnasöfnun fór fram á árunum 2017-2019 og voru tekin djúpviðtöl við 48 stúdentsefni í 10 framhaldsskólum, þar af fjórir landsbyggðarskólar. Fjórðungur viðmælenda úr hátt skrifuðum skólum reyndist hafa bláflibbauppruna og eru raddir þeirra leiðarstef í greininni. Nemendurnir hafa gert sér far um að taka upp gildi og viðmið sem tíðkast á skólavettvangnum en verða á sama tíma mjög gagnrýnin á lífsmáta og hugmyndir á upprunavettvangi. Þetta ferli getur verið sársaukafullt og markast af andstæðum tilfinningum eins og skömm, stolti, sektarkennd og létti.In our post-modern societies social mobility is one of the grounding principles of meritocracy along with neo-liberal imaginaries emphasizing individual responsibilities of future possibilities. The education system in the Nordic countries is a field where everyone should enjoy their merits and reach their potential regardless of their origin. As Bourdieu and other critical scholars have pointed out, this elite educational process seems more complicated for the students who have not been raised in a bourgeois middle-class family. The analysis presented here reveals that Iceland is no exemption from that. The article is based on a qualitative dataset of 48 students from 10 upper-secondary schools. Half of the schools are highly selective schools in urban areas and a quarter of the participating students happened to have blue-collar and/or rural backgrounds. The analysis focuses on the interplay between habitus and field, with a focus on the habitus that is not like ‘fish in the water’; how it is transformed in a field of education that is expected to be empowering in terms of access to capitals of the ruling classes. The research shows that this process was full of contradictive emotions, such as shame, guilt, pride and relief, when the students found ways to distance themselves from their roots and form the respectable self.Peer reviewe

Principals’ financial and pedagogical challenges when choosing programs and educational materials : The scope of the private education industry for preschools

Publisher Copyright: © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.The educational services industry has grown internationally, and there has been an explosion in external programmes that teach basics and behavioural control, as well as administrative data programmes. This growth has affected the governance of preschools worldwide and spurred schoolification and marketisation. In this context, this study examines how the growth of the private education industry within the education system has influenced preschool principals’ work in Iceland. Our critical theoretical perspective aims to explore how educational trends grounded in neoliberalism have shaped the work of preschool principals. The data consisted of a questionnaire distributed to all preschool principals in Iceland. The findings showed that schoolification, informed by educational authorities and the private education industry, has shaped pedagogy and preschool principals’ autonomy. However, preschool principals are relieved to have some self-monitored programmes at hand. Thus, these changes go hand in hand with the strengthening of professionalism and external marketisation.The educational services industry has grown internationally, and there has been an explosion in external programmes that teach basics and behavioural control, as well as administrative data programmes. This growth has affected the governance of preschools worldwide and spurred schoolification and marketisation. In this context, this study examines how the growth of the private education industry within the education system has influenced preschool principals’ work in Iceland. Our critical theoretical perspective aims to explore how educational trends grounded in neoliberalism have shaped the work of preschool principals. The data consisted of a questionnaire distributed to all preschool principals in Iceland. The findings showed that schoolification, informed by educational authorities and the private education industry, has shaped pedagogy and preschool principals’ autonomy. However, preschool principals are relieved to have some self-monitored programmes at hand. Thus, these changes go hand in hand with the strengthening of professionalism and external marketisation.Peer reviewe

Inclusive Education in the diversifying environments of Finland, Iceland, and the Netherlands : A multilingual systematic review

This review investigates how the scholarly fields, themes and concepts of 'inclusive education' are applied in the research and educational contexts of Finland, Iceland and the Netherlands. It identifies and outlines which thematic areas of research and sub-fields of study are referenced in each country by applying a systematic, multilingual approach. We reviewed literature in the local languages of each of these countries over the past decade, from 2007 to 2018, paying particular attention to (a) micro-level, in-depth, classroom interactions; (b) social and political contexts; and (c) social categories. Results of this review emphasise that across all three countries (a) there are similar conceptualisations of inclusive education dominated by categories of disability and special needs, and (b) there is a similar lack of attention to modes of exclusion based on social class, gender, ethnicity and geography as well as to how these can be addressed by more advanced research on inclusive education in these local spheres.Peer reviewe

Námshegðun leiðtoga í unglingabekk í ljósi rannsókna og kenninga um menningarauðmagn

Bourdieu leitaðist við að skýra misgóðan námsárangur og ólíka námshegðun nemenda með kenningum sínum um menningarlegt auðmagn. Sumir fræðimenn telja að ráðandi skilningur og notkun á hugtakinu sé takmarkandi miðað við skilgreiningar Bourdieus, t.d. í þekktri grein hans; „The forms of capital“. Þessi gagnrýni er skoðuð í ljósi íslenskra rannsókna. Út frá þessari almennu umfjöllun er sjónarhorninu beint að námshegðun leiðtoga í unglingabekk, þ.e. stráks og stelpu í 10. bekk. Ávinningur þess að skoða leiðtoga nemendahóps í þessu samhengi felst í því að ætla má að hegðun og viðhorf leiðtoganna sé birtingarmynd þess auðmagns sem er eftirsóknarvert í samfélagi unglingahópsins sem þau tilheyra. Í greininni er því lýst hvers konar námshegðun þótti virðingarverð í hópnum en slíkt virtist mótast talsvert af menningarauðmagni og kynferði. Sjónum er beint að því hvað einkenndi námshegðun og námsviðhorf leiðtoganna, hversu miklu einkunnir skiptu í því sambandi og hvaða hópar virtust hagnast á háum einkunnum. Þá er skoðað hvernig niðurstöður samræmast skilgreiningum og áðurnefndum rannsóknum á menningarauðmagni. Niðurstaða höfundar er sú að það þurfi að endurskoða notkun og skilning á hugtakinu til að öðlast frekari skilning og skýringar á mismunandi náms- og félagsstöðu íslenskra nemenda. Skoða þarf ólíkar víddir hugtaksins í samhengi við viðteknar hugmyndir um karlmennsku og kvenleika innan þess vettvangs sem rannsaka á og ráðandi gildi í menningarumhverfi unglinganna

Professional working conditions in Icelandic upper-secondary schools during the last twenty years: Narratives of policy and socio-cultural changes in neoliberal times

Lengi framan af var framhaldsskólamenntun til stúdentsprófs aðeins fyrir fáa útvalda úr efri lögum samfélagsins. Með tímanum jókst aðgengið og nú er framhaldsskólum á Íslandi skylt að mennta öll ungmenni undir 18 ára aldri sem lokið hafa grunnskólaprófi. Stór hluti þeirra þreytir stúdentspróf. Nám til stúdentsprófs hefur þróast og breyst undanfarna áratugi og þar kemur ekki eingöngu til stækkandi hópur nemenda sem sækja framhaldsskólann heldur ekki síður tilteknir alþjóðlegir menntastraumar og samfélagsbreytingar sem hafa sett mark sitt á kerfið. Þessar breytingar hafa snert framhaldsskólana og starfsaðstæður innan hvers þeirra en þó með misjöfnum hætti. Með þessari rannsókn var ætlunin að skoða starfsaðstæður kennara og stjórnenda; a) hvort og þá hvernig þær hefðu breyst á 20 ára tímabili, b) hvort og þá hvernig hugmyndir viðmælenda mörkuðust af ólíku félagslegu samhengi og markaðsstöðu skóla og c) hvort munur væri á upplifun kennara annars vegar og stjórnenda hins vegar. Rannsóknin byggðist á einstaklingsviðtölum við átta reynda kennara og stjórnendur í fjórum íslenskum framhaldsskólum. Val á framhaldsskólum í rannsókninni miðaðist við skóla með annaðhvort hátt eða lágt höfnunarhlutfall við inntöku. Í ljós kom verulegur munur milli skóla eftir höfnunarhlutfalli. Stefnubreytingar stjórnvalda varðandi styttingu og fræðsluskyldu orkuðu ólíkt á skóla eftir markaðsstöðu þeirra þó að allir viðmælendur hafi verið neikvæðir gagnvart henni. Hins vegar voru aðrar breytingar sem orkuðu með svipuðum hætti á viðmælendur, eins og aukið álag og foreldrasamstarf og almenn ánægja með hækkun sjálfræðisaldurs. Munur á skoðunum og viðhorfum kennara og stjórnenda var lítill og frekar að skoðanir væru skiptar milli skóla en milli viðmælenda innan sama skóla.Upper-secondary schools in Iceland are obligated to offer education to everyone under the age of 18, who has finished compulsory school. The greater part of these students then continue and complete their matriculation examinations (i. Stúdentspróf). During the past few decades, there have been both socio-economic and policy changes in Iceland, leading to an increase in the number of students attending uppersecondary school. The increase has also been fuelled by neoliberal and transnational policy forces which have influenced the educational system. The aim of this research is to study working conditions of teachers and supervisors, focusing on; a) whether, and then how, their conditions have changed during the past twenty years, b) whether, and then how, the ideas of those who were interviewed were influenced by the school’s social context and market value and c) whether there was a noticeable difference between teachers and supervisors in how they experienced this change at their schools. In 1999 a new main curriculum policy for upper-secondary schools was implemented. Among changes made was the reduction of academic tracks down to three. In 2008 laws were passed that required upper-secondary schools to revise every stage and study-track and made it compulsory for the upper-secondary education system to accept everyone under the age of 18 who had finished primary school. Additionally, these laws allowed for a reduction of units required to finish upper-secondary school. Recently, the minister of education changed the studying time required for matriculation exam, from four years to three. Apart from formal policy changes there have been transformative social and educational changes regarding technical innovations, smart phones and interconnection programmes of all kinds which have encouraged individualisation in learning. Neoliberalism has shaped educational policy and practice in Iceland in step with the Nordic countries, emphasizing marketization, neo-managerialism, choices and individual risks and responsibilities. It is clear that those changes have affected the upper-secondary schools and the working conditions within them. This research was built on individual interviews with eight experienced teachers and school supervisors within four different Icelandic upper-secondary schools. All of the persons interviewed had been involved with their school for more than twenty years. Eight interviews were conducted with four secondary school teachers and four managers (field-supervisors/vice-principals). The schools chosen for participation provided a good spectrum of upper secondary-schools in Iceland. Two of them have one of the lowest rejection rates in the country, as they rarely reject a student that applies for the school, while the other two schools are amongst those that have the highest rejection rate. The lower-ranking schools have a much wider age distribution of students than the elite schools. This study revealed a considerable difference in how school staff in schools with a high rejection rate and schools with a low rejection rate experienced changes in the education system. While some changes within the education system seemed to affect all the schools in a similar way, for example increased pressure due to change of age of majority (from 16 to 18) and parent cooperation, other changes such as government policy regarding the reduction in teaching hours, lesson units and allocated study time, showed a drastic difference in experience. The study indicated no noticeable difference in the views and attitudes of teachers and supervisors. While revealing an obvious difference in how the various schools experienced these changes, the study recorded hardly any difference within the same school, since both teachers and supervisors seem to be experiencing the same situation within their own school. Working conditions of teachers and supervisors have certainly changed during the past twenty years although the changes seem to have been more strongly felt in the schools which have a low rejection rate than in those with a higher rejection rate. Even though all the interviewees experienced a change under the new regulations, for example regarding the diversity of the student group, this difference was considerably greater in schools with a low market value.Rannsóknasjóður Háskóla ÍslandsRitrýnd grei

“Not my type of people!” Students’ narratives of choosing the ‘right’ school for academic tracks in Iceland

Á síðustu áratugum hefur töluvert verið rætt um skólavalsstefnur, þar sem árangur á afmörkuðu sviði ræður alfarið aðgengi nemenda að bóknámsbrautum í tilteknum skólum. Skólinn hefur á síðustu áratugum orðið mikilvægur liður í félags- og menningarlegri aðgreiningu milli hópa samfara auknu aðgengi að framhaldsskóla, vaxandi samkeppni og stéttaskiptingu í samfélögum. Allir geta nú sótt framhaldsskóla en ekki hvaða framhaldsskóla sem er. Í rannsókninni er byggt á hugtökum Bourdieu um samspil veruháttar, vettvangs og auðs þegar rætt er um stéttarstöðu, sjálfsmynd og aðgreiningu og hvernig val nemenda á námi til stúdentsprófs mótast af þessu samspili. Hér er sjónum beint að framhaldsskólavali bóknámsnemenda á höfuðborgarsvæðinu; hvernig þeir skilgreina skólana í hinu félagslega stigveldi. Sérstök áhersla er á að skoða val og gildi nemenda með veruhátt rótgróinnar millistéttar, sem samkvæmt Bourdieu er talinn samsvara best menningu og áherslum hefðbundins bóknáms. Tekin voru viðtöl við 19 nemendur sem töldust ná góðum árangri í sínum skóla og voru á fjórða námsári. Skólarnir fjórir voru valdir út frá háu eða lágu höfnunarhlutfalli við inntöku nemenda á síðustu fimm árum. Ljóst er á orðum viðmælenda að skólaval er mikilvægur farvegur sjálfsmyndarsköpunar og aðgreiningar. Hjá þeim sem eiga sér menntauppruna aftur í ættir kemur skýrast fram að það er ekki aðeins vilji nemenda eða einlægur áhugi sem stýrir valinu heldur einnig þrýstingur frá fjölskyldumeðlimum og óorðaðar væntingar frá samferðafólki sem eiga þátt í þessu ferli. Ástæður vals eru oft óljósar þangað til hefðbundnum valmöguleikum er ógnað. Það er ekki fyrr en nemendur af rótgróinni millistétt fara út fyrir upprunavettvang sinn sem þeir upplifa misgengi milli veruháttar og vettvangs. Meðvitund um forréttindi, félagslegan ójöfnuð og stéttastöðu er almennt takmörkuð en skapaðist hjá þeim tveimur nemendum úr rótgróinni millistétt sem höfðu farið út fyrir upprunavettvang sinn.This study focuses on academic-track students and examines how choice between upper-secondary school tracks leading to matriculation exams is perceived by those who live in the largest market area; the Reykjavik capital region. The study is based on Bourdieu’s theories, which describe choice as being marked by the relationship between habitus and field and how ideas on school quality are colored by the concentration of privilege of those who belong to the school community. The aim of the study is to imagine whether and, if so, how this applies here in Iceland with regard to students’ choice of upper secondary school and matriculation track. The article is part of a larger study by the first author, which has been supported by the University of Iceland Research Fund (2017). The project is a qualitative case study. The participants consist of 19 students in four different schools: two elite upper secondary schools and two other schools that have low market value among students aspiring for matriculation exams. Both elite schools only have academic tracks for matriculation exams. The lower-ranking schools offer both academic tracks for matriculation exams and art and vocational tracks of many kinds. There is a much wider age distribution of students than in the elite schools, both due to the vocational tracks and also due to access of young people up to 24 years old to enroll in academic tracks integrated with 16 to 20-year-old students at the upper secondary schools. The interviewees were all born in 1997 and were entering their fourth and last year of study. Each student interviewee participated in a semi-structured interview, theoretically driven by Bourdieu’s conceptual framework in mind (Berglind Rós Magnúsdóttir, 2014; Reay et al., 2011; Reay et al., 2005). The students also answered a standardized electronic questionnaire that mapped generational class history, extracurricular activities and certain aspects of their cultural consumption. In this article we pay particular attention to those students in the group who fulfill the criteria for being students with generational middle-class history, as having deep middle-class roots. These turned out to be eight of the 19 students, six out of 10 students from the elite schools and one from each of the schools with low market value. Deep middle-class roots mean that they are at least third-generation middleclass, where one or both sets of grandparents possessed cultural privilege, which includes having access to higher education when this was available only to a few. The research questions probe how these “good” students define the schools and their hierarchy and whether and, if so, how students differentiate themselves from others and define their own identity and changes to it through their school choice. It is clear from participants’ words that school choice is an important means for shaping identity and leads them to position themselves both materially and symbolically. In other words, it might be said that school choice is a certain class indicator in the teenagers’ world, where differentiation and the need for it are clear. The article discusses how certain “types” seem to define the schools, according to the interviewees. By choosing a school, students are often subconsciously connecting their habitus and an appropriate field, shaping their identity and identifying with certain groups. There is clearly a great deal at stake for many of them. Choosing a school can even entail a decision about what kind of person they are going to be in society. It is clear that it is not only a student’s desire or genuine interest that directs the choice. Pressure from parents and relatives or unclear, subconscious expectations often surround this process, the sense of what others of similar origins find acceptable or appropriate (Bottero, 2010). Students with generational middle-class history do not experience a disjuncture between habitus and field until they go outside their field of origin and either “don’t fit in” or make an effort to identify with groups at other schools that are closer in class position to them. The values of family and fellowtravelers have been ingrained into the subconscious (habitus) and the reasons for their choices are often unclear until traditional options are threatened. Distinction based on social class is often uncertain until students dwell outside their field of origin; a continued need to identify with their “own types of people” and lesser interest in close acquaintance with other groups. Awareness of privilege, social inequality and class position is limited, similar to results shown by research in other countries (Reay et al., 2011). Mentioning the name of an upper-secondary school was like referring to a particular brand that could either be perceived positively or negatively. The “brandization” of the upper secondary school system is systematically used for identity formation and to maintain the class system.Peer Reviewe

The OECD and the Field of Knowledge Brokers in Danish, Finnish, and Icelandic Education Policy

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