Educational transition, where students move from one educational context to another, e.g. across school stages, is of international interest (Jindal-Snape, 2010). In Iceland there is growing interest in the transition from the lower secondary stage of the ten year compulsory school to upper secondary schools, not least because of long standing concerns about high dropout rates in the upper secondary sector (Jónasson & Blöndal, 2002). According to an OECD document successful completion of upper secondary education within four years is 45% in Iceland, while the OECD average is 68% (OECD, 2012). An indication of the concern about this situation is an on-going cooperation between the Icelandic Ministry of Education and Culture, and OECD on developing strategies to reduce dropout rates in Icelandic upper secondary schools. The cooperation is based on international evidence and practices that address upper secondary student dropout across different OECD countries, and efforts to support countries in the design and implementation of their education reforms (OECD, 2012).

A number of researchers have focused on the impact of various student attributes, such as self-efficacy, self-esteem and resilience on successful educational transition. They recognise that even though transition between educational settings is an interesting and satisfying step for some it is stressful and challenging for others (Jindal-Snape, 2010). This paper outlines several attributes considered to be an integral part of the learning competences of students, and therefore to support successful transition between school stages. These are: 1) Thinking skills, such as higher order thinking and metacognition (McGregor, 2007); 2) deep learning as opposed to surface learning (Entwistle, 2001); 3) self-theories of self-efficacy (Bandura, 2006) and incremental as opposed to entity theories of own intelligence (Dweck, 2000); 4) motivation for learning (Harlen & Deakin-Crick, 2003). According to the authors cited above, these attributes, while relatively stable over time, are by no means fixed or innate, but shaped through students´ encounters with their environment, not least by their schooling, and the learning experiences and learning culture of the implemented curriculum (Sigthorsson, 2008a) of their schools.

The aim of the research presented in this paper was 1) to shed light on students’ learning experiences and learning outcomes in Icelandic and Science at the lower secondary stage of four Icelandic compulsory schools; 2) to move towards an answer to the question how this might impact on their thinking and learning skills, self-theories and motivation, and thereby have implications for their learning competences and successful transition from compulsory to secondary schools.

Bandura, A. (2006). Adolescent development from an agentic perspective. In F. Pajares & T. C. Urdan, (Eds.), Self-efficacy beliefs of adolescents (pp. 1–43). Greenwich: Information Age Publishing. Dweck, C. S. (2000). Self-theories: Their role in motivation, personality, and development. Philadelphia: Taylor & Francis. Entwistle, N. (2001). Promoting deep learning through teaching and assessment. In L. Suskie (Ed.), Assessment to promote deep learning: Insight from AAHE's 2000 and 1999 assessment conferences (pp. 9–19). Washington DC: American Association for Higher Education. Hacker, R. G. & Rowe, M. J. (1997). The impact of the National Curriculum development on teaching and learning behaviours. International Journal of Science Education, 19, 997–1004. Harlen, W. & Deakin Crick, R. (2003). Testing and motivation for learning. Assessment in Education, 10(2), 169–207. Jindal-Snape, D. (2010). Setting the scene: Educational transitions and moving stories. In D. Jindal-Snape (Ed.), Educational transitions: Moving stories from around the world (pp. 1–8). New York: Routledge. Jónasson, J. T. & Blöndal, K. S. (2002). Ungt fólk og framhaldsskólinn: Rannsókn á námsgengi og afstöðu '75 árgangsins til náms. Reykjavík: Félagsvísindastofnun Háskóla Íslands og Háskólaútgáfan. McGregor, D. (2007). Developing thinking; developing learning: A guide to thinking skills in education. Maidenhead: Open University Press. OECD. (2012). Towards a strategy to prevent dropout in Iceland: Main outcomes of the OECD-Iceland workshop preventing dropout in upper secondary schools in Iceland. Retrieved from http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/26/63/49451462.pdf Sigthorsson, R. (2008a). Teaching and learning in Icelandic and Science in the context of national tests in Iceland: A conceptual model of curriculum teaching and learning. Educate~ Special Issue, March 2008, 45–56. Sigthorsson. R. (2008b). Mat í þágu náms eða nám í þágu mats. Samræmd próf, kennsluhugmyndir kennara, kennsla og nám í náttúrufræði og íslensku í fjórum íslenskum grunnskólum. PhD thesis, Reykjavík: Kennaraháskóli Íslands.