Kvennaskólinn, secondary school, operates in accordance with art. 92 of the 2008 legislation for secondary school education in Iceland.
Kvennaskólinn aims to enhance learners’ growth and maturity by offering education and teaching strategies which highlight greater respect for the individual and his needs. In accordance with the National curriculum of 2008 the school aims for enhanced learners’ motivation, involvement and competence though project based work and increased individual learner’s responsibility.
The school’s objective is to make learners active and independent learners, capable of expressing their views and arguing their working procedures. Presenting learners with a variety of working processes and teaching techniques will result in enhanced learners’ proficiency. It is important to keep in mind that in order for learners to accomplish diverse performance skills it is necessary for the teachers to apply diverse teaching strategies as individual learners require miscellaneous learning approaches.
The school’s teaching strategies aim to provide all learners with an opportunity to use their potential to the fullest and give them constructive feedback on their work. Diverse assessment methods are applied to evaluate learners’ outcomes to help them reach their goals.
There are three basic educational lines at Kvennaskólinn. The academic lines are the sociology-, humanities- and natural science lines. These lines are arranged so as to be completed during three years of study, however, it is possible for individual learners to prolong their studies either for one or two terms, should they feel so inclined. These learners will pursue their studies with their beginners’ class throughout the first three years of study. To complete the university entrance exam learners need to complete the minimum of 200 credits for each academic line.
The core-studies of each line consist of 157credits and an additional 43 credits which should be chosen by individual learners themselves. During the first two years learners complete the greater part of their main compulsory courses, however, they do get to choose some elective courses, during those two years. During the third year of study, learners choose at least half of their courses themselves. Nevertheless, on two of the academic lines, a part of the core courses are elective. Learners on the sociology line choose between two fields of study for increased specialization, the total of 20 credits, and learners on the humanities line choose the total of 15 credits for the same purpose. However, while learners have an opportunity to choose their own path, emphasis is placed on retaining as much core line class teaching as possible.
For some schools and university faculties learners must take an entrance test or comply with entrance requirements. Consequently, learners are encouraged to consult the school counsellors or the school they aim to attend, to be able to make relevant choices regarding further studies.