Iceland is a small system with a clear idea of what school is for. Teachers who visit expect to find expensive technology or unusual timetables. What they actually find is simpler: sustainability treated as a way of thinking, time outdoors written into the week, and the country itself used as teaching material.
Here are four things Icelandic schools do that travel well to any classroom in Europe.A curriculum built on six pillars
Icelandic schools work around six fundamental pillars set out in the National Curriculum Guide: literacy, sustainability, health and welfare, democracy and human rights, equality, and creativity.
These are not six subjects. They are six criteria that every school activity is expected to reflect, from how lessons are planned to how the building is used. The same pillars apply from pre-school through to upper secondary.
Source: The Icelandic National Curriculum Guide, Ministry of Education, Science and Culture.
Sustainability in every subject
In most European schools, sustainability is a unit, a week, or a project. In Iceland it is a lens: a way of framing questions in mathematics, in language teaching and in history alike.
Try this: take one unit you already teach and reframe its central question in terms of resource use or long-term consequence. No new content, no extra hours.
Learning outdoors, all year round
Time outside is timetabled, not treated as a reward or cancelled when the weather turns. Icelandic teachers plan outdoor sessions in November as readily as in June — and November in Iceland is not mild.
Try this: fix one recurring outdoor slot per term with a clear learning objective. One session that always happens is worth more than five that get cancelled.
The local area as a classroom
About 85% of Icelandic homes are heated with geothermal energy, and almost all the country’s electricity comes from renewable sources. A geothermal plant an hour from Reykjavík is a physics lesson, a geography lesson and a civics lesson at the same time.
Try this: every school sits near something — a river, a water treatment works, a market, a wind farm. The Icelandic idea is not “we have volcanoes”. It is treating what is nearby as curriculum material rather than as an end-of-year outing.
See it for yourself
PMS Erasmus Plus runs Erasmus+ KA1 teacher training courses in Reykjavík that include school visits and a full day devoted to the Icelandic education system, closing with a workshop where each participant leaves with two concrete ideas to apply at home.
Our courses in Iceland are delivered by our locally established organisation, meeting the Erasmus+ 2025 requirement that activities take place in the country where the host organisation is legally established. The Learning Agreement is issued at the moment of registration.
Frequently asked questions
What are the six pillars of the Icelandic curriculum?
Literacy, sustainability, health and welfare, democracy and human rights, equality, and creativity.
Is outdoor learning compulsory in Icelandic schools?
It is not a mandated subject, but it is widely embedded in practice and supported by the curriculum pillars on sustainability and on health and welfare.
Can teachers visit Icelandic schools through Erasmus+?
Yes, either within a structured course or as a job shadowing mobility under KA1. Whether a specific activity is approved and funded is decided by your school and your National Agency, not by the course provider.
