Upper secondary education and the COVID-19: Crisis, challenges, and adaptability

The global crisis brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic has had an enormous impact on Icelandic upper secondary schools. Due to the governmental ban on gatherings, all schoolwork shifted to distance education over one weekend. Simultaneously, the domestic situation changed for most families. The home became a workplace for many parents, a classroom for the students, and even a kindergarten. This unprecedented situation provides a unique opportunity to study the impact of a sudden crisis within the home and the educational context. The aim of this project is to explore how upper secondary school leaders, counsellors, teachers, students and parents perceived and experienced the impact of COVID-19. The study will focus particularly on the conversion from classroom to distance education and its long-term effects. Extensive and diverse data have been and will be collected and distinct methods used i.e. interviews, surveys and classroom observations. Its national and international value concerns research on various aspects of education and social justice and the interplay of the principal stakeholders. A well-documented example of one country, Iceland here, should serve others who are doing research in the field, contributing to a body of knowledge of how to react when disaster strikes but also to learning what to avoid and to identifying vulnerable groups.

Principal investigator: Guðrún Ragnarsdóttir assistant professor (gudrunr@hi.is)

Co-proposers: Súsanna Margrét Gestsdóttir assistant professor, Elsa Eiríksdóttir associate professor, Amalía Björnsdóttir professor, & Michael Reiss professor

PhD candidates: Ómar Örn Magnússon & Þorsteinn Á. Sürmeli

Master student: Guðlaug Pálsdóttir

International and national advisors: Ildikó Lázár associate professor, Michael Reiss professor, Hafdís Ingvarsdóttir professor emeritus & Ívar Rafn Jónsson PhD candidate

We are interested in cooperation and teamwork when it comes to the ongoing research design, comparing outcomes and dissemination.