Building Relationships, Shaping Futures: Iceland’s Approach to Education Beyond the Classroom

#ExtendedLearning #GELYDA #Iceland # community-based 

About the author: Kolbrún Pálsdóttir is the Dean of the School of Education at the University of Iceland, Reykjavik (Iceland) 

In Iceland, we’ve long recognized that education is about more than just academic achievement. It’s about growing young people who are literate, creative, democratic, and grounded in human rights and equality. That’s why, over a decade ago, Iceland's national curriculum embedded six core values into all levels of schooling. But while these values are clear on paper, our biggest challenge lies in bringing them to life—not just in classrooms, but in every space where young people learn and grow.

And that includes spaces many systems still overlook: our youth centers, afterschool programs, and community hubs. These are not just “add-ons” to formal education. They are essential ecosystems for relationship building and identity development. Yet, too often, we fail to tap into their full potential or weave them meaningfully into the educational fabric.

Across the Nordic countries, we have strong traditions of community-based youth work. These include a vibrant tapestry of extended education—everything from municipal-run programs to grassroots leisure activities. The diversity is inspiring, but the integration into policy and practice is still lagging. We need to take what we know about how learning happens—in social, connected, and often informal ways—and use that knowledge to reshape our systems.

One major step forward in Iceland has been our Wellbeing Act, in place since 2021. It mandates that all professionals working with children and youth—whether teachers, social workers, or afterschool leaders—collaborate across sectors. This policy is now being implemented by municipalities throughout the country. It’s a work in progress, but it reflects our belief that well-being, belonging, and social connection must be a shared responsibility.

At the University of Iceland’s School of Education, where I work, we are seeing a growing number of students preparing to become not only classroom teachers, but also social educators, youth and leisure professionals, and health and sports educators. We recently launched a specialization for teacher educators focused on social skills, relationships, and belonging. Our goal is to equip educators across roles with the knowledge and tools to nurture children not only as learners—but as whole human beings.

Still, this is complex work. We're not just improving extended education or supporting teachers. We are trying to shift the very paradigm of education itself. We are reimagining what counts as learning, who gets to lead it, and how different professional roles—inside and outside of schools—can work together to support young people.

That’s why international collaboration is so vital. Through platforms like GELYDA, we can learn from each other, support visionary practice at every level—from policy to the classroom to the community—and ensure that extended education is valued, integrated, and resourced. Because when we align across sectors and across borders, we do more than educate. We help young people thrive.

This vision is also at the heart of the upcoming GELYDA conference in Reykjavík, Iceland, taking place June 11–14, 2025. The gathering will spotlight how extended education, resilience, and collaborative professional roles can reshape educational systems for the better.

This blog and the conference are both a reflection of that journey and an invitation to deepen our collective commitment to whole-child, whole-system change. 

For more information about the conference and GELYDA’s global initiatives, visit www.gelyda.org.