Global perspectives in upper secondary schools in Iceland

Abstract

The focus of this study was to find out what upper secondary school teachers in Iceland thought concerning global or cross-cultural education in their schools. The research is built on a qualitative methods approach. Eleven teachers in five different schools were interviewed using an interview guide. The study revealed that none of the schools had cross-cultural perspectives or an introduction to other philosophical frameworks as a separate subject in the schools. Two subjects appeared to be most likely to mention the topic although there was a great variation in this respect between schools. One of the subjects was found to be Life skills, which is compulsory for all first year students in upper secondary schools, the other is a social science class for older students and intended only for certain study programs. International relations and exposure to other cultures was found to focus mainly on Europe and European culture. The study also revealed that discussions concerned with other cultures were often built on comparisons that were heavily biased in favoring Iceland and Icelandic culture. In all the interviews the topic of cross-cultural perspectives was soon turned into a discussion about tolerance. My interviewees described their thoughts about tolerance and prejudice, whether these issues were important, and how tolerance levels could be increased in their students. The theoretical framework, that my study is built on is within the realm of globalization theory as interpreted by the “Transformationalists” and can be seen as a macro level background for my search. On the micro level, critical pedagogy was the guiding light for my analysis, when interpreting what my interviewees expressed concerning their classroom practices and what they found most important.