Vinsamlegast notið þetta auðkenni þegar þið vitnið til verksins eða tengið í það: http://hdl.handle.net/1946/17425
Greinin fjallar um tilurð og sögu miðskóladeildar Menntaskólans á Akureyri(1948–1964). Um hana hefur áður verið ritað frá sjónarmiði stofnanasögu, bæði Menntaskólans
og keppinautar hans, Gagnfræðaskóla Akureyrar, og þá
mjög sem persónusögu skólastjórnendanna.
Hér verður þess freistað að líta á atburði úr meiri fjarlægð, túlka hagsmuni skólanna tveggja og nemenda þeirra í tengslum við
þróun gagnfræðastigsins og nýtt skólakerfisamkvæmt fræðslulögum
frá 1946. Þar fékk gagnfræðastigið nýtt og aukið vægien þrengt var að sjálfræði menntaskólaum inntöku nemenda.Í greininni er farið ítarlega yfir rás atburða, sagt frá ríkum hagsmunum sem
þarna var tekist á um og gerð grein fyrir röksemdum aðila.
Bent er á ógagnsæi í framkvæmd, því lýst hvernig ákvarðanataka
féll í persónubundna og ósamkvæma farvegi, og dregið fram
eftirtektarvert sjálfræði sem skólarnir tveir fengu að njóta
þegar upp var staðið. Jafnframt gefst í greininni tilefni til að tengja söguefnið við viss atriði sem enn eru til umræðu í menntamálum: hvort sé betra samræmt skólakerfi eða ólíkir valkostir, hvort sjálfræði einstakra skóla hæfi betur
einkaskólum en opinberum skólum, hvort gott sé að stytta röskum nemendum leið um skólakerfið og hvort gott sé að eftirsóttir skólar geti valið úr nemendum.
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 mid-year 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
out-of-town 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 decision-making, 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 state-funded schools like MA and GA) and diversity, and the
pros and cons of schools establishing an elite reputation by selecting strong
students.
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