Courses and training

For Whom:

Second language educators who completed the first two introductory workshops and are ready to implement their learning. 

Course Content:

Participants begin with a careful exploration of planning structure and method including the phases of the proficiency approach lesson plan. Participants will also develop performance tasks (the output that will be assessed) around which they will develop 1-2 lessons.

Course organization:

The 3-hour workshop will begin with a brief presentation. Participants will try several warm-ups, brainstorm some of their own and then write 1-2 lesson plans consulting with other participants and integrating feedback.

Next-steps:

Register for the curriculum mapping workshop.

Course fee support:

Companies/public organizations can apply for grants from the Vocational Training Funds from the union where the majority of their employees belong. See more details at attin.is 

For Whom:

This course is for second language acquisition educators (compulsory school) and/or department heads who have attended at least both introductory workshops.

Course Content:

Participants will explore various elements involved in developing a curriculum map using the proficiency approach for teaching Icelandic as a second language. The course starts with defining objectives and expected outcomes, including competence criteria and content tailored to specific ability levels and age groups. By analyzing different skill levels, modes of communication, and learning criteria, participants will learn to create a comprehensive curriculum map that supports effective year-round planning for teaching.

Course organization:

The 3-hour course marks the beginning of a curriculum map development process that typically spans 6 to 19 months. Participants will start developing their curriculum map during the course, but school teams will need to continue the process independently, with guidance from NORTH provided every 1 to 2 months (1-2 hours per session, 5-7 sessions total). Prior to the course, each school team must secure management support to sustain the development work throughout the school year and complete the mapping process. The course is conducted in English, but the study materials are provided in Icelandic.

Next-steps:

The course is the initial step in developing a curriculum map for proficiency approach to teaching Icelandic as a second language. Before the course starts, each school team must obtain management support to ensure the continuation of development work throughout the school year and the completion of the mapping process.

Course fee support:

Companies/public organizations can apply for grants from the Vocational Training Funds from the union where the majority of their employees belong. See more details at attin.is 

For Whom:

Administration and teachers in preschool and primary schools.

Course Content:

Participants will explore effective methods for implementing a holistic approach to language learning within a school, such as maintaining consistent terminology and using common vocabulary and phrases to enhance the educational experience for all students. They will also learn about classroom arrangements, including the use of visual aids that specifically support language learning and benefit all students. Additionally, participants will be introduced to Morning Sessions and receive training in creating practical support materials to help develop a comprehensive approach to language learning.

Course organization:

The course lasts 3 hours and is conducted as a workshop featuring brief lectures, discussions, and the creation of supporting materials that participants can further develop after the course. The course is offered in English.

Next-steps:

Register for Part 2,"Introduction to school-wide approaches to support language learners: Part 2 - Effective Pre-Teaching Strategies for Language Learners" 

Course fee support:

Companies/public organizations can apply for grants from the Vocational Training Funds from the union where the majority of their employees belong. See more details at attin.is 

For Whom:

This course is for all teachers (ISAT and other classroom teachers) working within the school.

Course Content:

The pre-teaching strategies session will introduce participants to the concept of pre-teaching and its effectiveness for all learners. It will introduce participants to methods such as show and tell, pre-teaching vocabulary, and tapping into prior knowledge, techniques for simplifying language and focusing on completion rather than generation. Specifically, the course will focus on how ISAT teachers can intentionally bridge into the classroom using pre-teaching methods. The course will also cover the use of visual aids, including graphic organizers, tables, charts, outlines, and graphs, as well as providing models like sentence starters and vocabulary boxes.

Course organization:

The course is 3 hours long and is set up as a workshop consisting of short lectures, discussions and exercises in Pre-Teaching. The course is offered in English.

Next-steps:

NORTH provides individual participants, schools, and municipalities with guidance, advice, and continuous training to enhance skills and implement the Holistic Approach to language learning within their organization. This support includes observing lessons and offering feedback, as well as developing a plan for integrated implementation across a school or municipality.

Course fee support:

Companies/public organizations can apply for grants from the Vocational Training Funds from the union where the majority of their employees belong. See more details at attin.is 

For Whom:

Compulsory school classroom teachers.

Course Content:

A Morning Meeting is a structured and interactive gathering that takes place at the beginning of each school day. It is designed to foster a positive classroom environment, build a sense of community among students, belonging and mattering. During this full day workshop participants will experience and learn about the purpose and structure, including these key elements: Greeting, Sharing, Group Activity, Morning Message, Morning Routines, Review or Preview; participants will leave with materials, samples, tools and ideas for launching their own morning meeting.

Course organization:

This is a full day (7hr) workshop which includes presentations, discussions and many opportunities for experiencing morning meetings. The course is offered in English.

Next-steps:

NORTH provides ongoing training and advice to schools and municipalities seeking to further develop their expertise in implementing Morning Meetings holistically and integrating them with individual subjects. This support includes observing lessons and offering feedback, as well as creating a plan for comprehensive implementation within a school or municipality.

Course fee support:

Companies/public organizations can apply for grants from the Vocational Training Funds from the union where the majority of their employees belong. See more details at attin.is 

For Whom:

Teachers and administration in compulsory schools.

Course Content:

In this introductory course, participants will increase their awareness of what multicultural learning is and how to create a multicultural learning environment where their own identity and that of others, self-presentation, different perspectives and reflection are at the center of learning. Participants will be led through guided conversations and exercises designed to increase their awareness of their own identity, the identity of others and how they communicate with others. Different methods and examples of how to implement multiculturally responsive teaching methods will also be reviewed. Through dialogue and purposeful exercises, participants will expand their perspective and understanding of how to deal with differences through teaching methods and a learning environment that welcomes, creates and reflects diversity within the classroom, school and society as a whole.

Course organization:

This half-day (4-hour) presentation and workshop will include direct learning with examples. It will also provide a mapping template for participants to reflect on their own classrooms and schools and hands-on ideas and methods for increasing participant competences for strengthening their intercultural education classrooms. This course is offered in English. 

Next-steps:

NORTH provides schools and municipalities with ongoing training and consultation to enhance their understanding of intercultural education and improve their skills in implementing it within teaching. This includes observing lessons and providing feedback, as well as developing a plan for integrated implementation across a school or municipality.

Course fee support:

Companies/public organizations can apply for grants from the Vocational Training Funds from the union where the majority of their employees belong. See more details at attin.is 

For Whom:

Classroom teachers who are working on implementation in a specific field and want to form a Learning Community to promote increased education, peer support and enhance their skills in that field.

Course Content:

During this facilitated CoP, participants will enhance their knowledge of teaching and content analysis with a focus on improvement of student learning. Examples of methods that will be employed are: videoing classes, watching together, and “observing”’ and learning from them; Bringing in student created artifacts for analysis and discussion; Reading articles and sharing trial and error of practice, and classroom observations by the facilitator.

Course organization:

 Participants will increase their knowledge of different methods used in a successful CoP and learn to analyze content in order to improve their students' learning. Examples of methods that will be reviewed to improve teaching methods are: recording in class; watching a lesson together and observing the learning and teaching, and how they can learn from these methods. Likewise, participants will bring student projects from their own teaching for analysis and discussion, read articles together, share experiments and mistakes.

Next-steps:

NORTH offers ongoing coaching and consultancy support to schools and municipalities looking to deepen and enhance the implementation of their learning. Following a CoP launch, NORTH can offer additional direct learning, continual classroom observations and classroom and schoolwide audits.

Course fee support:

Companies/public organizations can apply for grants from the Vocational Training Funds from the union where the majority of their employees belong. See more details at attin.is 

For Whom:

Teachers in pre-, compulsory and upper secondary schools

Course Content:

Through an engagement with human ideas both ancient and modern, representing various cultural, religious and philosophical traditions, participants contemplate the diversity of human experience and articulate their own answers to what gives value and meaning to their lives and work. Participants will engage with some of the deepest questions of human existence, such as: What does it mean to belong? To whom are we responsible? How do we feel when we live well? How should we change? What should we do when we fail? By the end of the course, participants will have the knowledge and skills to implement various relational- and participatory-based methods in the classroom and to engage students in transformative learning experiences.

The workshop is offered in both English and Icelandic. Most of the course materials are in Icelandic, but some reading materials are in English.

Course organization:

The LWL process invites participants to experience a participatory/relational method for each question, followed by a reflection in which both the experience and the method are broken down with an eye toward implementation. Following the opening to the course, each of six LWL questions takes on this structure. This approach ensures that participants can effectively apply these methods in the classroom. To fully grasp the Life Worth Living approach, it is recommended that the course be conducted as a three-day off-site workshop.

Next-steps:

NORTH offers schools and municipalities ongoing training and consultation to deepen their knowledge and support the implementation of the Life Worth Living approach in the classroom and integrating the approach across various subjects.

Course fee support:

Companies/public organizations can apply for grants from the Vocational Training Funds from the union where the majority of their employees belong. See more details at attin.is 

For Whom:

Leadership and management positions

Course Content:

Through an engagement with human ideas both ancient and modern, representing various cultural, religious and philosophical traditions, participants are given the opportunity to both uncover, test and re-align themselves with what gives meaning and worth to their lives and their work. Participants will work through a set of questions including: To whom am I responsible? How do I act? What is worth wanting? What do I do when I fail? At the same time that they are challenged to answer these questions for themselves they will be challenged to answer these questions on behalf of their company.

The workshop is offered in both English and Icelandic. Most of the course materials are in Icelandic, but some reading materials are in English.

Course organization:

The course is based on relational and participatory methods. Diverse methods are used to discuss each question, followed by reflection where both the method and the experience of working through each question are broken down into smaller parts, so that participants can utilize their learning as leaders in their professional work.

The course can be organized in a variety of ways, depending on what best suits the client's needs. Examples of possible formats:

• Leadership teams in a company/organization:
  • 3-day workshop offsite
  • Seven half-day workshops offsite or onsite
  • Half-day introduction to Life Worth Living – participants learn about the approach and explore one life question (could be suitable for a professional development day)

Next-steps:

NORTH offers ongoing coaching and consultancy support to companies and municipalities looking to deepen and enhance the impact of LWL within their contexts.

Course fee support:

Companies/public organizations can apply for grants from the Vocational Training Funds from the union where the majority of their employees belong. See more details at attin.is 

For Whom:

All those involved in the education and teaching of children in preschools, primary, and secondary schools, whether in formal or informal learning in sports and various leisure activities (teachers, recreation specialists, coaches, etc.). Workshops are tailored to the specific needs of the audience.

Course Content:

The course will cover what transversal skills are, the current skills gap, and their connection to the National Curriculum. Participants will reflect on how transversal skills can be developed in both formal and informal learning environments and will engage in exercises that can be used in a variety of educational settings. Participants will also gain valuable insight into the SOUL assessment tools, which include a comprehensive rubric assessment and a short checklist for seven different transversal skills, and how they can be applied in their own work environments. The workshop is offered in both English and Icelandic. 

The course materials and assessment tools are in Icelandic.

Course organization:

This half-day course (3-4 hours) is organized as a workshop and consists of an introduction to transversal skills, the challenge of setting skill criteria and assessing those skills, training with practical tasks, and training in using the SOUL assessment tool and reflection. Each workshop is tailored to the needs of the specific participant group.

Next-steps:

NORTH offers ongoing tailored training and consulting for participants to deepen knowledge and support implementation within schools, sports and leisure clubs, after-school programs, and more.

Course fee support:

Companies/public organizations can apply for grants from the Vocational Training Funds from the union where the majority of their employees belong. See more details at attin.is 

For Whom:

Compulsory school educators. This workshop can also be tailored for preschool teachers upon request.

Course Content:

In this course, participants will gain in-depth knowledge of the foundational pillars of the Digital Destiny teaching framework: 1) Learning through societal challenges; 2) Learning through dialogue and communication; 3) Learning through thinking; 4) Learning through evaluation and reflection; 5) Learning through structured processes, and how these can be used to integrate societal issues and sustainability into curriculum and teaching. Each pillar supports teachers in thinking about, developing, and creating thoughtful and well-rounded learning experiences for students in a safe learning environment where all voices are heard. Participants will also receive templates for lesson planning, insight into creating a plan based on these pillars, and practice in applying various teaching methods for implementing the pillars, both together and separately. Participants will also learn to use the Digital Destiny online learning platform, www.digitaldestiny.eu which is available in Icelandic.

The workshop is offered in both Icelandic and English. All educational materials are in Icelandic.

Course organization:

This full 1-day (7 hour) workshop takes educators through the Digital Destiny learning journey on ESD, societal issues and their integration into the existing curriculum. Beginning with a presentation on the concepts, the Digital Destiny framework will be “unpacked” including experiencing working methods and workshopping the integration of societal issues into the existing curriculum with the support of a lesson planning template.

Next-steps:

NORTH offers ongoing tailored training and consulting for participants to deepen knowledge and support the implementation of social issues and education for sustainability (ESD), such as by observing a lesson and providing feedback, or developing a plan for comprehensive implementation within a school or municipality.

Course fee support:

Companies/public organizations can apply for grants from the Vocational Training Funds from the union where the majority of their employees belong. See more details at attin.is 

For Whom:

Managers and staff in preschools, primary, and secondary schools, municipal administration, non-profit organizations, and other institutions. The approach can be tailored to the needs of the institution.

Course Content:

In this course, participants will learn about funding opportunities for project ideas and solutions through national and international grant funds and how to ensure that an application meets the goals, priorities, and requirements of various funds. Participants will learn about individual elements in structuring a successful application and will practice presenting their ideas according to a specific template, sharing them with other participants, and receiving feedback. Participants will also receive templates and guidelines useful for writing applications for different funds. 

The course is conducted in Icelandic.

Course organization:

The course is organized as a half-day workshop (3 hours) and consists of short presentations, an overview of templates and guidelines, and exercises. Participants work on exercises individually or in pairs, reflect on their own work, and receive peer feedback.

Next-steps:

NORTH offers ongoing tailored training and consulting for participants and institutions, such as mapping access to various grant funds, developing project ideas and structures, writing, or providing feedback on grant applications.

Course fee support:

Companies/public organizations can apply for grants from the Vocational Training Funds from the union where the majority of their employees belong. See more details at attin.is