Icelandic municipalities’ response to students with an immigrant background

Abstract

ABSTRACT The growing immigrant population in Iceland has had an impact on Icelandic schools. These changes require that municipalities, schools, and teachers respond to the educational needs of these students. The aim of this research is to gain an understanding of how four municipalities in Iceland organize and structure support for immigrant students and how different municipal policies are implemented. In the spring of 2019, qualitative data were collected in interviews with four heads of school offices and principals of compulsory schools in three of the four municipalities on issues related to the education of students with an immigrant background. The findings indicate that two of the municipalities have well-developed policies and implementation plans while the other two do not. In the latter, principals and teachers have developed internal strategies to address issues related to students with an immigrant background, with limited support from their municipality.