Course Schedule

Core Activities

Day 1:

Introduction to STPM and building connections

Begin with an active introduction to the STPM approach, highlighting Iceland’s innovation in education, sustainability, and technology.   Introduce digital tools for sharing resources.  Explore Iceland’s unique cultural and educational heritage through "The Icelandic Corner" and connect with new European colleagues through engaging ice breaking activities and a relaxed social event.

Day 2:

Building a thriving school culture through leadership

Explore how cultivating the right culture enables both students and staff to thrive. Reflect on how deliberate acts of leadership shape a positive environment and identify practical strategies to integrate these acts throughout your leadership journey. Delve into leadership styles—understand their impact, discover your own style, and explore how to adapt your approach to meet the needs of your team. Examine how leadership choices directly influence and strengthen school culture, laying the foundation for long-term success.

Day 3:

Building a high-functioning team and leader well-being

Learn and practise strategies for creating a cohesive and effective team, focusing on identifying team strengths, establishing shared norms, and fostering collaboration. Explore techniques such as reverse brainstorming, positive noticing, and respectful disagreement to enhance team dynamics and innovation.

Shift focus to your well-being as a leader by discovering practical ways to manage stress and maintain balance, ensuring you remain effective and resilient in your leadership role.

Day 4:

Insights into Icelandic Education and Sustainability

Visit one of Reykjavík’s newest schools, integrating kindergarten, primary, and secondary education. Discover how practical and academic subjects are equally valued, inclusion is a priority, and well-being is integrated into the curriculum.   Witness how outdoor activities rooted in Icelandic heritage build resilience. Explore how democracy and sustainability thinking shape the school community in a positive way.

Day 5:

Navigating difficult conversations and sharing good practice

Explore how fostering a positive culture and strong relationships can ease and reduce the need for difficult conversations. Learn tools like the "Ladder of Inference" and practise using a structured framework to approach challenging discussions effectively and constructively.

Conclude the day by sharing good practices—bring your favourite school activity to inspire colleagues, exchange ideas, and celebrate creativity in education.

Day 6:

Bringing it all together

Reflect on the key threads of leadership explored throughout the course, focusing on how building the right culture enables everyone, including yourself, to thrive. Take time to individually or collaboratively consider the next steps on your leadership pathway, identifying actionable goals and strategies to shape your future as an effective and inspiring leader.

Using digital collaboration, develop a vision plan with actionable goals, and share intentions in a commitment-creating session. Conclude with course evaluation and feedback.

Day 7:

Icelandic Thermal Wellness, Geothermal Sustainability and Reflective Practice

Participants begin with a short seminar on Icelandic thermal bathing traditions, exploring the role of geothermal energy, sustainability, wellbeing, equality, and screen-free social connection in Icelandic culture. The day continues with a guided visit to a local thermal swimming pool and hot tubs, where participants experience an important aspect of Icelandic daily life: gathering together in warm geothermal waters despite the cold outdoor climate, engaging in open conversation where every voice is valued, and learning about local customs of hygiene, trust, and shared social spaces, including the longstanding tradition of showering thoroughly without swimwear before entering the pools. Structured reflection and mindfulness activities encourage participants to connect these experiences to the course themes and their own personal and professional development.