A school takes on the school system: Resistance of the Akureyri Grammar School against novelties in the school legislation of 1946

Abstract

The article describes the intense reluctance with which the Akureyri Grammar School (i. Menntaskólinn á Akureyri, MA) in Iceland accepted a new school system being phased in around 1950. The new system gave the lower secondary schools (i. gagnfræðaskóli, cf. German/Scandinavian Realschule/realskole) a greatly increased role. Compulsory education, hitherto restricted to seven grades of elementary school, now included, on top of six initial grades, two years at the lower secondary level. The country’s two state run grammar schools, previously six grades after primary school, would henceforth be restricted to the four upper secondary grades, enrolling students who had passed a nationwide qualifying examination (i. landspróf) after three grades of lower secondary schooling. The place of the grammar schools in the new system was a modification of the practice already established in Reykjavík, the capital, where the grammar school, more prestigious than MA, had to deal with an increasing glut of applicants. It had strictly limited the numbers admitted to the lowest grades while admitting a majority of its students directly into its 3rd grade on the basis of a competitive examination, now replaced by the nationwide exam, thus allowing students from all parts of the country to compete on more equal terms. At MA, admissions had been much less strictly regulated. Some students were admitted after passing the annual entrance examination. But a larger number were admitted by the headmaster, acting on formal or informal references, and were allowed to start in any of the first three grades, even in midyear or just before exams. Such flexibility suited the needs of keen students growing up on farms or in villages who could study at home with limited instruction, economizing on costly upkeep in Akureyri. For MA itself, competing with the more prestigious Reykjavík school while serving a less populous catchment area, this flexibility was also a useful way to attract a sufficient number of students. Therefore the school tried its best to retain its admission practices, ignoring the new school system. A fight with the authorities in Reykjavík (the minister of education backed by his schools directorate) ensued. The headmaster of MA lobbied legislators to ensure a partial victory, keeping the six grades even if numbers were limited in the lowest two. However, these students would still be required to pass the nationwide qualifying exam to enter the upper grades. For students from localities not yet with a new lower secondary school, it was an advantage to have access to a grammar school that did not require any preparation at the secondary level. For students from places that had introduced the new system – including, crucially, the town of Akureyri itself, with its lower secondary school known as Gagnfræðaskóli Akureyrar, GA – the two lowest grades of MA now offered a shortcut for the brightest students to bypass lower secondary school and prepare for the qualifying exam in two years instead of three. Even with restricted numbers admitted to the lowest grades of MA, it was unacceptable to GA and its headmaster to coexist with an elite school offering a shortcut for the brightest and most ambitious students in town. So the GA headmaster organised his own lobbying of legislators, managing to delay the passage of a bill needed for MA to keep its lowest grades. The stalemate was resolved by the two headmasters signing a formal peace treaty, happily accepted by parliament and minister alike. Under the deal, MA would operate its own lower secondary division, three grades with a curriculum similar to GA’s and preferably enrolling outoftown students. To the extent that MA accepted applicants from Akureyri, the two headmasters would between them decide on who to admit. For each student so admitted, GA reserved the right to keep three or four of similar ability (measured by the pupils´ final school grade in elementary school). This unique arrangement remained in force for nine years, from 1953 through 1961. The article relates in detail the course of events, the interests defended and arguments proposed by each side. It points out the lack of transparency involved, the highly personalised and irregular channels of decisionmaking, and the remarkable degree of local autonomy eventually accepted. The author goes on to compare the issues highlighted in the case with similar issues of educational policy, involving, for instance, the questions of autonomy (often claimed by independent schools rather than statefunded schools like MA and GA) and diversity, and the pros and cons of schools establishing an elite reputation by selecting strong students.