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Töflur eru aftast í skjalinu, The literature on sexual minority adolescents and young adults has highlighted a poor mental status among those groups compared to their heterosexual peers. Sexual minorities are also more likely to experience stress factors such as bullying and physical violence. However, sexual minority young adults have not been studied much in Iceland, a Nordic country renowned for a high degree of sexual equality. Given what the literature has shown to date, a noteworthy question is whether patterns of mental well-being of sexual minority adolescents and young adults in Iceland are comparable to other countries. The aim of the present study was to provide an assessment of mental well-being in sexual minority young adults in Iceland. We used population data to examine a selection of mental well-being indicators in 16–20 year-olds, both-sex-attracted and same-sex-attracted participants, and compared them to other-sex-attracted peers. Findings indicated that sexual minority young adults exhibited significantly greater levels of depressed mood, anger, and perceived stress than other-sex-attracted young adults. However, when stratified by gender and sexual attraction pattern, the analyses revealed that both-sex-attracted young women scored significantly higher on all indicators than any other group. We conclude that studies in this area should strive to distinguish between same-sex and both-sex attraction as well as to stratify analyses by gender. The well-being of both-sex-attracted young women is a compelling topic for future research.

Objective: To study the self-reported prevalence of experienced violence among a cohort of women about two years after giving birth, their health during pregnancy, pregnancy outcomes and their experience of their child ’ s health. Setting and subjects: In 2011, a total of 657 women participated in phase III of the Childbirth and Health Cohort Study in Icelandic Primary Health Care, 18 to 24 months after delivery. The women had previously participated in phase I around pregnancy week 16 and phase II 5 – 6 months after delivery. Data were collected by postal questionnaires. Main outcome measures: Women ’ s reported history of experienced violence, sociodemographic and obstetric background, self-perceived health, the use of medications and their child ’ sper- ceived health. Results: In phase III, 16% of women reported experiencing violence. These women felt less sup- port from their current partner ( p < 0.001), compared to those who did not report violence. Their pregnancies were more frequently unplanned ( p < 0.001), deliveries more often by caesarean section ( p < 0.05), and their self-perceived health was worse ( p < 0.001). They reported more mental and somatic health complaints, and their use of antidepressant drugs was higher ( p < 0.001). Furthermore, women with a history of violence considered their child ’ s general health as worse ( p ¼ 0.008). Conclusions: Our study confirms that a history of violence is common among women. A history of violence is associated with various maternal health problems during and after pregnancy, a higher rate of caesarean sections and maternal reports of health problems in their child 18 – 24 months after birth. KEY POINTS Violence is a major concern worldwide. Understanding the impact of violence on human health and developing effective preventive measures are important elements of any public health agenda. The reported prevalence of experiencing violence was 16% among women attending ante- natal care in the primary health care setting in Iceland. Women with a history of violence reported worse health in general during pregnancy and delivered more often by caesarean section, compared to women with no such history. Mothers with a history of violence also evaluated the general health of their child as worse than women with no such history. The findings of this study support the importance of recognizing and addressing experi- enced violence among women in primary care.

The Icelandic goat is an indigenous breed, descendant of goats brought to Iceland by Nordic and Celtic settlers in the 9th century (Adalsteinsson 1981). The population is estimated to have been below 1000 individuals for centuries and critically threatened at least twice. Today about 900 goats are found all over the country, mostly in small groups with one large herd located in west Iceland. Very few studies have been conducted on the Icelandic goat. Previously, only one study (on population genetics) has been published (Baldursdottir et al. 2012). The aim of the present study was to shed light on the plant selection and foraging behaviour of the largest goat herd in Iceland.

Textaritun er flókið viðfangsefni sem tekur langan tíma að ná góðum tökum á. Börn byrja ung að prófa sig áfram með ritað mál og nýta sér teikningar og tákn til að koma hugsun sinni til skila. Smám saman átta þau sig á uppbyggingu ritmáls og fara að skrá texta á hefðbundinn hátt og ná tökum á því að skrifa texta í samfelldu máli. Málþroski er ein helsta undirstaða textaritunar. Það þarf orð til að tjá hugsun sína og málfræði og setningafræði gegnir mikilvægu hlutverki í því að skýra hugmyndir sínar og setja saman samfelldan texta. Færni í umskráningu er önnur meginstoð ritaðrar textagerðar. Það er nauðsynlegt að hafa táknkerfi ritmálsins á valdi sínu til að geta komið hugsun sinni í rituð tákn og sjálfvirkni í umskáningu er ein helsta forsenda þess að einstaklingur geti beint hugsun sinni að inntaki og framsetningu textans. Auk þessara tveggja meginstoða byggir textaritun á annarri vitsmunalegri færni eins og að geta sett sig í spor annarra og metið þarfir þeirra fyrir upplýsingar og geta stýrt hugsun sinni og vinnubrögðum í kringum ritunina til að ná sem bestum árangri. Í því sambandi eru stýrifærni og sjálfstjórn hugsunar og hegðunar talin gegna mikilvægu hlutverki. Fyrri rannsóknir hafa sýnt að allir ofangreindir þættir hafa áhrif á frammistöðu barna í ritaðri textagerð, en áhrif þeirra eru breytileg eftir því hvar börn eru á vegi stödd í þróun ritunar. Meðan börn hafa ekki náð góðri sjálfvirkni í umskráningu er hún þeim fjötur um fót í textaritun og þau ná ekki að fullu að virkja hæfni sína í öðrum þáttum sem ritunin byggir á. Áhrif umskráningar á ritun eru því sterkari hjá yngri nemendum en þeim eldri. Hversu sterk og langvarandi áhrif umskráningar á textagerðina eru getur verið breytilegt eftir því hve flókinn rithátt tungumál hafa því það er erfiðara að ná tökum á umskráningunni í tungumálum sem hafa óhljóðréttan rithátt og flókna stafsetningarhefð en í tungumálum sem hafa einfaldari rithátt. Rannsóknir á samspili þessara þátta í ólíkum tungumálum eru því mikilvægar til að varpa skýrara ljósi á tengsl þessara þátta. Fleiri þættir koma einnig við sögu og geta haft afgerandi áhrif á framvindu þróunarinnar. Ber þar helst að nefna þá kennslu sem börnin fá og hversu fjölbreytt og tíð tækifæri þeim gefast til að spreyta sig á og þróa ritun sína. Markmið þessarar rannsóknar var að afla upplýsinga um þróun ritaðrar textagerðar hjá íslenskum börnum í 1.–4. bekk. Leitað var svara við þremur meginspurningum: 1) Hvernig þróast ritaðar frásagnir og upplýsingatextar íslenskra barna í 1.–4. bekk? 2) Spáir færni í umskráningu, málþroska og sjálfstjórn í 1. bekk fyrir um frammistöðu barna í ritun í 2. og 4. bekk? 3) Hvernig birtist einstaklingsmunur í frammistöðu og framförum í ritaðri textagerð í 1.–4. bekk og hvað veldur honum? Tveimur hópum barna, alls 83 börnum, var fylgt eftir í fjögur ár, frá 1. bekk upp í 4. bekk. Málþroski barnanna, umskráningarfærni og sjálfstjórn voru metin þegar börnin voru í 1. bekk og gögnum um ritun safnað frá öðrum hópnum þegar börnin voru í 1., 2. og 4. bekk en frá hinum hópnum í 2., 3. og 4. bekk. Í hverri fyrirlögn skrifuðu börnin tvo texta, frásögn og upplýsingatexta. Blandaðar aðferðir voru notaðar við greiningu og úrvinnslu gagna. Megindleg greining á textunum náði til byggingar þeirra, lengdar, orðaforða, samloðunar og stafsetningar. Lýsandi tölfræði og t-próf voru notuð til að meta stöðu barnanna í rituninni í hverjum bekk fyrir sig og framfarir á milli ára. Samhliða megindlegri greiningu var rýnt nánar í gögnin með eigindlegum aðferðum til að draga skýrar fram einkenni textanna á hverjum tíma, framfarir milli ára og einstaklingsmun. Fylgniútreikningar voru notaðir til að skoða tengsl milli frammistöðu barnanna í textategundunum tveimur og fjölbreytuaðhvarfsgreiningu beitt til að kanna forspárgildi umskráningar, málþroska og sjálfstjórnar fyrir frammistöðu í textagerð í 2. og 4. bekk Ágætar framfarir urðu í textaritun á þeim tíma sem rannsóknin náði yfir. Öll árin stóðu börnin þó sterkar að vígi í ritun frásagna og heldur meiri framfarir urðu í ritun þeirra en upplýsingatexta. Fylgni var á milli frammistöðu barnanna í textategundunum tveimur en þó fyrst og fremst milli stafsetningar og lengdar texta. Milli annarra mælinga á textagerðinni var lítil fylgni og til að mynda mældist ekkert árið marktæk fylgni milli byggingar textanna. Góð tök á annarri textategundinni tryggja því ekki góð tök á hinni textategundinni. Áhrif umskráningar, málþroska og sjálfstjórnar á ritunina voru breytileg milli ára og textategunda. Færni í umskráningu í 1. bekk spáði marktækt fyrir um frammistöðu í stafsetningu frásagna og upplýsingatexta í bæði 2. og 4. bekk en hafði fremur lítil áhrif á textagerðina. Áhrif málþroska voru lítil og breytileg milli textategundanna tveggja og bekkja. Í frásögnunum voru þau sterkari í 4. bekk en í 2. bekk. Í upplýsingatextunum voru þau aftur á móti heldur veikari í 4. bekk en í 2. bekk. Sjálfstjórn reyndist hafa marktækt forspárgildi fyrir margar mælinganna á rituninni í bæði 2. og 4. bekk og áhrif hennar voru álíka sterk í báðum textategundum. Mikill einstaklingsmunur var á frammistöðu og framförum barnanna í textaritun. Þann mun var aðeins að litlu leyti hægt að skýra með stöðu þeirra í málþroska, umskráningu eða sjálfstjórn. Þau börn sem slakast stóðu í byrjun náðu almennt meiri framförum en þau börn sem sterkar stóðu og börn mæðra sem höfðu lokið háskólaprófi og þau börn sem gengu í skóla þar sem mikil áhersla var lögð á ritunarkennslu náðu heldur meiri framförum en börn mæðra sem ekki höfðu lokið háskólamenntun og þau börn sem gengu í aðra skóla. Niðurstöður rannsóknarinnar gefa ágæta mynd af því hvernig rituð textagerð barna þróast á fyrstu árum grunnskólagöngu og hvernig ýmsir ytri og innri þættir hafa áhrif á þá þróun. En þær sýna líka vel hve flókin og margslungin þróun textaritunar er og vekja nýjar spurningar um það hvernig börn ná tökum á textaritun og hvernig má sem best styðja við og efla færni þeirra., Icelandic children´s text writing in first to fourth grade: The development, individual differences and effect of encoding, language skills and self-regulation Text writing is a complex task, which takes children a long time to master. The development of writing starts at an early age with children´s drawings. In drawings, children express their thoughts and experiences and their drawings can even encompass a whole story. From an early age children also use symbols and letters in their writing. Initially they copy letters and symbols from their environment without any connection with their sounds or conventional spelling but gradually they learn about letter and sound correspondence and how to write the traditional way which makes it possible to compose a written text. Language skills are one of the main foundations for text writing. Words are necessary to express meaning and grammar, and syntax plays an important role in forming sentences and composing texts. Encoding are the other main foundation for text writing. Knowing how to encode sounds into written symbols is necessary for traditional writing and automation in transcription makes it possible for the writer to focus on texts’ content and exposition. In addition to these two main foundations, text writing relies on other cognitive abilities. For example, the writer has to identify with his readers and estimate what information they already have and what information it is necessary to provide in the text. The writer also has to monitor his writing process, plan what to write, decide how to compose it, and revise and edit the text. Executive function and self-regulation are important for that part of the writing process. Research indicates that encoding, language skills and self-regulation are important predictors of the development of text writing. However, research also indicates that their effect on text writing changes with age. At the beginning, encoding are the strongest predictor of children´s text writing performance. With increasing automation in encoding, the importance of language skills increases whereas self-regulation affects text writing at all ages. The relative influence of encoding and language skills may differ according to the orthographic depth of languages. The acquisition of writing, especially learning to spell, is easier in languages with shallow orthography than in languages with deep orthographies. Further research on children´s writing in different languages is necessary to better understand the relationship between orthographic depth and the effect of foundational skills on text writing development. Research also indicates that children’s performance in text writing is strongly influenced by various aspects of their learning environment. These include the degree of emphasis that is placed on writing instruction in their school, the nature of the writing instruction itself, and even culture-specific views regarding writing and the teaching of writing. The main purpose of the present study was to investigate the development of Icelandic children´s text writing from first to fourth grade, and the effect of encoding, language skills and self-regulation on text writing. Icelandic has a relatively shallow orthography which might make it easier for Icelandic children to develop their encoding skills than for example English children. Consequently the effect of encoding might be weaker on Icelandic children´s text writing than in languages, e.g. English, with deeper orthography. The three main research questions were as follows: 1. How do Icelandic children´s written narratives and information texts develop from first to fourth grade? 2. What is the relative effect of encoding, language skills, and self-regulation on Icelandic children´s text writing in second and fourth grade? 3. How do individual differences appear in children´s performance and progress in text writing in first to fourth grade, and how can they be explained? Two cohorts of children, a total of 83 children, were followed for four years, from first to fourth grade. Their encoding skills, language skills and self-regulation were evaluated in grade 1. Data on writing was collected from one cohort of children in grades, 1., 2. and 4., but from the other cohort in grades 2., 3. and 4. The children wrote two texts each year; a narrative and an information text. Mixed methods were used for data analysis. Quantitative analyses were used to measure text length, vocabulary, cohesion, structure and spelling. Descriptive statistics and t-tests were used to assess children´s performance in writing in each grade and their progress from one year to other. Qualitative methods were used for deeper analyses of the texts; to describe the characteristic features for each text genre in each grade, the progress from year to year and individual differences. Correlation was used to compare children´s performance in the two different text genres. A multiple regression model was used to determine the effect of encoding, language skills and self-regulation on text writing in second and fourth grade. Results show reasonable progress in text writing from first to fourth grade. On all four testing occasions the children performed slightly better when they produced narratives than when they wrote information texts, and the children also showed more progress in narrative writing than in information text writing. Correlation was found between text length and spelling in the two text genres but not between the three other measure on text generation; vocabulary, cohesion and text structure. Thus a child who performs well in one text genre does not necessarily perform well in the other text genre. The effect of encoding, language skills and self-regulation were quite different in second and fourth grade and not the same for the two text genres. Encoding skills in first grade predicted spelling in both text genres and in both grades but had limited effects on other measure on text writing. The effects of language skills were weak and different for the two text genres and for grades 2 and 4. In narrative, the effect of language skills were stronger in fourth grade than in second grade. In information texts, in contrast, the effect of language skills were weaker in fourth grade than in second grade. Self-regulation was a significant predictor of a number of writing measurements in both grades and its effects were similar for both text genres. Great individual differences were found regarding the children’s performance each year and their progress from year to year. Children´s encoding skills, language skills, and self-regulation in first grade only explained a small amount of the variance in children´s performance and progress. Children performing at a lower writing level at the beginning of the study showed better progress than children who had greater writing ability. Children of mothers with a higher educationan level and children who attended schools that emphasize writing showed better progress than children of mothers with a lower level of education and children in other schools. The results provide important information about the development of Icelandic children´s text writing in the first years of elementary school. They also show how complex the development of text writing is and raise further questions about the learning of text writing and how it can be taught in school.

The compulsory school act in Iceland states that schools should be inclusive. This entails that schools need to provide every pupil with quality education according to their needs and ability, and to remove barriers to participation in learning and social situations to enable pupils and their parents to belong in the school community. Given the fact that the policy calls for significant restructuring of school organisation, it is important to consider how and whether the organisation of special needs education and support operates according to the ideology of inclusive education. The research focuses on how I, a coordinator for support services in a compulsory school in Iceland, worked on developing the organisation of support towards inclusive practice. Inclusive practice is grounded in the ideologies of social justice, democracy, human rights and full participation of all. In using the term inclusive practice, I seek to demonstrate that there are many factors that have an impact on the process of inclusion in a school setting and to emphasise the fact that inclusion is a process that can never be completed. The research is framed by the concepts of collaboration between classroom teachers and support services, leadership for inclusion and reflective practice, as these concepts have been considered crucial for re-conceptualising education practice to become inclusive. Self-study methodology was employed in the research to allow for understanding of my role in transforming practice and how that transpired. The purpose has been to transform the support service in Waterfront School so that it reinforces inclusive practice and to understand my role in improving leadership and collaboration for inclusion. This is a study in and of my practice that was divided into three distinct phases: reconnaissance phase, enactment phase and reflective phase. In the reconnaissance phase I interviewed administrators, teachers and support staff working at the school in order to achieve insight into how the people I work with understand inclusion and into their views on the support system and collaboration. Analysis of this phase illustrates the voices of staff working with pupils in the school by highlighting their perception of inclusion and their ideas about how the support system could be improved. Based on this analysis I created an action plan that I implemented in the next cycle of the research, the enactment phase. In the enactment phase the organisation of the support service was transformed according to analysis of the data from the reconnaissance phase and the process was recorded in a self-reflective research journal. Furthermore, the viewpoints of parents, pupils and learning support assistants were gathered on inclusive practices in the school and how that could be improved from their standpoint. The analysis of this phase gives an insight into how the coordination of the support system was developed, what the main challenges were, and how collaboration between general educators and the support staff in the school was transformed. In the reflective phase, I reflected on my learning of the practitioner research, alone and with others, as I analysed the data and gained understanding of my development in thinking and practice. Through reflection and with the assistance of critical friends I transformed the findings into a story that others might relate to and perhaps learn from. Findings from this study cast a light on the factors constraining or facilitating the restructuring of the support service as inclusive practice in a school. The findings show that even though I was committed to improving the practices of support, there were influences and barriers to those improvements that made the whole process complex. Breaking away from the discourses of disability, charity and pathology that dictate the practice of support, thereby changing my own and others mind set, proved to be the greatest challenge. My contribution to knowledge is the provision of a first-hand account of a middle manager endeavouring to change practice towards inclusion. Furthermore, I used the understanding gained from the research to form a model of an inclusive education system, which can be employed to inform school change across system levels, to explore inclusive practices, and to support teacher education and professional development. Through the research process I have gained an understanding that creating an inclusive support system is a complex venture. It is bigger than improving collaboration and leadership of the coordinator for support. I have learned that the position of a coordinator for support needs to be reconceptualised. While the teachers are responsible for meeting the daily needs of their pupils, the coordinator for support services has a role to provide the support and advice required to assist each teacher in fulfilling their statutory duties., Í lögum um grunnskóla á Íslandi er kveðið á um að skólar eigi að vera án aðgreiningar. Það þýðir að skólum ber að veita öllum nemendum góða menntun í samræmi við þarfir þeirra og hæfni auk þess að fjarlægja hindranir fyrir þátttöku í námi og félagslegum aðstæðum til að gera nemendum og foreldrum klei ft að tilh eyra skólasamfélaginu . Í ljósi þess að stefna n kallar umtalsverðar breytingar á skipulagi skólastarfs er brýnt að huga að hvernig og hvort fyrirkomulag sérkennslu og stuðnings fellur að hugmyndafræði skóla án aðgreiningar . Rannsó knarverkefnið fjallar um hvernig ég, í hlutverki deildarstjó ra stoðþjónustu í grunnskóla á Íslandi , leitaðist við að þróa skipulag stuðnings og sérkennslu í átt til þess að vera á n aðgreiningar. Starf í skóla án aðgreiningar byggist á félagslegu réttlæti, lýðræði, m annréttindum og þátttöku allra sem þýðir að það eru margir þættir sem hafa áhrif á ferilinn í átt til þess að skólar séu án aðgreiningar . Á hersla er lögð á að þessi feri ll sé án enda, verði ætíð verk í vinnslu eða eitthvað til að stefna að. Rannsóknin byggir á hugmyndum fræðimanna um þætti sem taldir eru mikilvægir fyrir þróun skóla án aðgreiningar: samstarf kennara og stoðþjónustu, forystu fyrir skóla án aðgreiningar og ígrundun í starfi. Tilgangur rannsóknarinnar var að umbreyta skipulagi stoðþjónustu í einum grunnskóla, Vatnaskóla, þannig að stuðningur yrði án aðgreiningar auk þess að öðlast dýpri skilning á hlutverki mínu sem deildarstjóra við að efla forystu og samstarf. Ég nýtti aðferðir starfstengdrar sjálfsrýni, á ensku self - study, við rannsóknina til að öðlast skilning á breytingarferlinu og hlutverki forystu í starfi. Hér er um að ræða rannsókn á og rannsókn í starfi mínu sem deildarstjó ri stoðþjónustu og va r henni skipt upp í þrjú skeið : undirbú ningsskeið , framkvæmda skeið og ígrundunar skeið . Á undirbúnings skeiðinu tók ég viðtöl við stjórnendur, kennara, starfsfólk stoðþjónustu og námsráðgjafa. Flest viðtalanna voru rýnihópaviðtöl en tvö voru einstaklingsvið töl. Tilgangur viðtalanna var að öðlast innsýn inn í skilning samstarfsfólks míns á skóla án aðgreiningar og hverjar hugmyndir þeirra væru um stoðþjónustuna og samstarf. Greining gagna frá þessu skeiði varpar ljósi á hvernig starfsfólk og stjórnendur skilj a skóla án aðgreiningar og á hugmyndir þeirra um hvernig hægt er að þróa stoðþjónustuna og samstarf innan skólans. Á þeirri greiningu byggði ég síðan áætlun sem var framkvæmd á næsta stigi rannsóknarinnar: framkvæmdaskeiðinu. iv Á framkvæmdaskeiðinu vann ég a ð breytingum á skipulagi stoðþjónustunnar samkvæmt því sem fram kom í niðurstöðum greininga gagna af undirbúningsskeiðinu og var breytingarferillinn skráður í rannsóknardagbók. Á þessu stigi tók ég einnig viðtal við mæður nokkurra barna í skólanum, gerði v erkefni með nemendum í 4., 6. og 9. - 10. bekk og tók viðtöl við nokkra þeirra, og tók viðtal við hóp af stuðningsfulltrúum. Tilgangurinn með þessari gagnaöflun var að fá fram sýn þessa hópa á starf í skóla án aðgreiningar og hvernig bæta mætti starfsemi sto ðþjónustunnar. Greining á gögnum af þessu skeiði gaf innsýn inn í hvernig til tókst með að breyta skipulagi stoðþjónustunnar, hverjar voru helstu áskoranirnar og hvernig samstarf kennara og starfsfólks stoðþjónustu breyttist á tímabilinu. Á ígrundunarskei ðinu rýndi ég í það sem ég hafði lært á rannsókninni, ein og með aðstoð annarra, í þeim tilgangi að greina gögnin og skilja hvernig ég þróaðist í starfi og hugsun . Með ígrundun gagna og samvinnu við rýnivini náði ég að setja fram í niðurstöðum sögu sem aðr ir geta samsamað sig við og jafnvel lært af . Niðurstöðurnar sýna að það reyndist ekki auðvelt að ná markmiðum verkefnisins varðandi umbreytingu á stoðþjónustunni. Það voru ýmis ljón í veginum sem gerðu ferlið flókið. Stærsta áskorunin reyndist vera að bre yta orðræðu fötlunar, meðaumkunar og læknisfræði sem stýrði hugarfari mínu og annarra og setti mark sitt á hvernig stoðþjónustunni var háttað. Framlag mitt til þekkingar er frásögn millistjórnanda af því hvernig hægt er að breyta stoðþjónustunni í átt til þess að vera án aðgreiningar. Til að ná yfirsýn yfir flækjurnar og hvernig aðilar, stofnanir, lög og reglugerðir í lagskiptingu skólakerfisins tengjast og vinna saman útbjó ég kerfisbundið yfirlit yfir stefnu skóla án aðgreiningar og hvað hún felur í sér. Þetta yfirlit getur nýst kennurum, stjórnendum, skólum eða skólakerfum sem vilja gera breytingar á stuðningi og sérkennslu eða gera athugun á skó lastarfi . Auk þess getur þetta yfirlit verið upplýsandi í kennaramenntun og endurmenntun kennara og stjórnenda í starfi. Ég hef öðlast skilning á því í gegnum rannsóknina að það að breyta stoðþjónustu skóla í átt til þess að vera án aðgreiningar er flókið framtak, mun flóknara en að bæta samstarf eða forystu deildarstjóra stoðþjónustu. Kennarar eru ábyrgir fyrir þ ví að mæta daglegum þörfum nemenda sinna, en deildarstjóri stoðþjónustu hefur það hlutverk að styðja kennara og veita þeim þá ráðgjöf sem dugar til þess að þeir geti uppfyllt lögbundnar starfsskyldur sínar.