A Leader's Experiences of Intercultural Education in an Elementary School: Changes and Challenges

Abstract

This article focuses on a school leader's professional awareness in promoting students' intercultural competence. The context is how societal challenges and changes-in this case the rapid increase in immigration to Iceland-provide opportunities for school development. Icelandic principals and teachers, like those in many other countries, face the new challenge of working with children from multiple countries, who speak different languages and bring with them various cultural backgrounds and values. Here we explore the perspectives and experiences of a leader, a principal at a Reykjavik elementary school that has been designated as a mother-school for intercultural education. In particular, we analyze the leader's pedagogical vision: his aims and acts of leadership, as well as his motivation for the work and how he relates it to incidents in his life history. We also shed light on how, as a leader, he integrates leading and learning in his process of professional growth. This leader's portrayal should support other school leaders in reflecting on their own pedagogical vision and practice as they lead challenging school development programs.