Educational policies and curriculum guides in Iceland emphasize equity and inclusion. A fundamental principle of the Icelandic education system is that everyone is to have equal access to education irrespective of sex, economic status, geographic location, religion, disability and cultural or social background. Linguistic and cultural diversity among school children and their families in Iceland has been steadily growing over the past few years. Resettled refugees are among these children. The aim of the study is to explore the dilemmas of inclusion and integration of refugee children in Icelandic preschools and compulsory schools, the structures created for their reception, participation, learning and wellbeing, educational practices and educational partnerships with their parents. The theoretical framework of the study includes critical approaches to education (May & Sleeter 2010) and multilingual education (Chumak-Horbatsch 2012). Methods include semi-structured interviews with principals and teachers in the schools and with the refugee parents, which belong to a group of 55 Syrian quota refugees, consisting of ten families which arrived in early 2016 and settled in three municipalities. Background information and policy documents from school authorities in the municipalities are also be explored. The findings indicate that the inclusion and integration of the refugee children in the schools has in many ways been successful, while various dilemmas and issues for consideration have come up. Knowledge and suitable educational practices such as multilingual education (Chumak-Horbatsch, 2012; Cummins, 2004) and multicultural education (Nieto, 2010) are generally not in place in the schools. Instead, the emphasis is on individually based teaching and Icelandic as a second language. Other challenges include illiteracy of children and parents and lack of support for the children’s heritage languages.

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