School reforms

[SaligoBay]

This is a bit vague, but good enough to give you a start in any conversation - or rather, you start it with something like "and what about Chirac and his reforms", et voil, they're off, and because you participated right at the beginning, everyone thinks you're really clever and on the ball

Increasing school violence sounds worrying tho.


Chirac calls for schools reform

Jon Henley in Paris
Friday November 21, 2003
The Guardian

President Jacques Chirac yesterday launched a national debate on the future of France's troubled education system, saying reforms were urgently needed to produce schools that were "fairer, more efficient and more sure of their objectives".
"Our schools are merely treading water," the president told 500 education experts during the first of 15,000 public meetings organised across France over the next two months. He said: "Education is the state's biggest single expenditure, and it must be the state's biggest reform priority."

The unprecedented consultation exercise is a belated attempt by the government to appease teachers who began nationwide strikes earlier this year over plans by the education minister, Luc Ferry, to decentralise school funding and staffing decisions, plans which have since been postponed.

But the teachers' main demands - more cash and more staff - were rejected yesterday by Mr Chirac who asked all involved to "lay aside their passions, politics and clans" to allow "an open and taboo-free debate". He said it was up to all of France's 60 million citizens to help define the school of the future.

He also insisted that the main responsibility of French state schools must be to "transmit republican values such as tolerance and respect for authority, the national anthem and flag". In return, he promised "determined backing" for teachers faced with increasing school violence.

France's centralised school system must become more flexible, he added, arguing that "all too often, equality of opportunity is translated simply into uniformity of education offered. The job of schools must be to provide each pupil with the key to his personal fulfilment."

[Nick Trollope]

This is a real can-of-worms post - nothing wrong with that, but expect to be accused of fence-sitting, or doom-saying unless you are going to give us the benefit of your own opinions, you fence-sitter, you.....

Education is suffering in the same way, to varying degrees all over Europe (the world over, indeed). I rather doubt that good republican (or Republican) values will make much difference when the problem is simple - money.

I doubt if one can cure classroom violence without throwing money (and lots of it) at the problem, unless one feels like curing the underlying social problems that are the cause. I am often heard to say that there is little point in fixing the symptoms (of anything), if you can't fix the cause. Violence is a cancer - treat the symptoms and you simply move the pain elsewhere.

Without trying too hard to over-simplify the issue, whilst Western governments spend huge proportions of their GDP on war-mongering, there will be NO money for education (or health, or welfare...).

That said and in *my experience only*, French schools are light-years ahead of their English counterparts. Discuss.

>France's centralised school system must become
>more flexible, he added, arguing
>that "all too often, equality
>of opportunity is translated simply
>into uniformity of education offered.
>The job of schools must
>be to provide each pupil
>with the key to his
>personal fulfilment."

Fine words, but the UK national curriculum, introduced in the early 90's was meant to achieve that - what a farce that turned out to be. It would be funny if it was not for the fact that it is our children (an consequently grandchildren etc etc) that "the system" is letting down. My family is well out of it.




Nick
http://www.aplaceinfrance.com

[Richardbk]

I've been watching this thread with interest. I do not have much experience of the UK system, other than I went through it some 20+ years ago and that my father was a primary school teacher. I do however have 3 young children all born here that are progressing through the French system for better or worse. I also happen to be in a position where I interview and take on graduates of various countries including FR and UK.

For us the French system suffers from 3 main problems.

- The method, structure and content of teaching is too inflexible. Too much rote learning and not enough focus on 'learning to learn' . The centralised approach does not allow below average children or children that are more artistic than numeric to achieve their full potential. The selection process starts early in the French system. Those that will go to the Grande Ecoles have already been 'identified' within the first couple of years of primary school. The system lives and breeds inequality.

- Also centralsied is the teaching staff structure. This means that teachers are appointed at department/state level. There is no 'management' of teachers at the school level. This results a uniform system, but it leaves out both parents and the Head in terms of trying to 'form' a school. In effect teachers are generally arrogant state clones that are placed in front of the class to dictate. Of course there are exceptions, but having seen some 10+ teachers with my kids over recent last years I would say that almost all fall into this category. Moreover in 2003 we saw teachers striking in order to maintain this system, because it allows them to continue to be answerable to nobody, neither to the centralised system - because the management doesn't exist nor to the Head/Parents.

- To make matters worse the centralised approaches of the above are complemented in France by an anarchic local administration system, where the salaries, structure amenities etc are paid by the local community. It does take much to see the problem when these too very diverse approaches are put together. A centralised teaching system, with no local management or structure, together with a local administration that may or may not support the school , depending on the various local politics of the day. Anybody that has sat on a parents committee of a French school or been at the obligatory yearly Mairie/school council will know that they are a complete waste of time in terms of improving education.

As in all things whilst there has been plenty of money in the system, many of these problems have been covered over. Now it seems France is being to wake up to the reality that its schools are poorly managed , poorly staffed and with a system that is not delivering to ALL children. The real question is whether this government has the bottle to do something about it. 2004 I fear will be yet another year of teacher strikes.


regs

Richard