Parler Paris Newsletter, Paris France

FRANCE'S SCHOOL SYSTEM: A PASSION FOR CULTURE
by Pascal Jacquelin

Part II in a series...

Picture this: France, late 20th century. The scene is set in the teachers' room of a high school in the Paris "banlieue" (suburbs). A young English teacher is idly waiting for his next class to begin. In order to take the edge off his growing boredom, he decides to eavesdrop on some of his colleagues, and intercepts the following dialogue:

French teacher: "Would you believe it? My pupils had no idea what an incipit was! It seems crass ignorance is rampant these days."

English teacher: "Tell me about it. When I asked my students who Queen Mathilda was, this morning, all I got for an answer was complete silence."

As you must have guessed, I was that young teacher indiscreetly listening in. When I heard that short conversation, I did not quite know what to do. Should I hide under the table with shame (feverishly trying to recollect what the hell an incipit was and who that damned Queen Mathilda might have been)? Or should I overtly voice my disagreement? For what was the point, I wondered, of cramming student's heads with such useless information when most of these youngsters were challenged by the mere task of putting a meaningful sentence together, in English or in French? As it turns out, I neither dived under the table nor started a debate, and cowardly stayed put, broodingly waiting for my next class to begin.

A case of ill-placed pride?

Interestingly enough the snippet of conversation that I overheard perfectly sums up the very paradox of the French school system; students' skills are dwindling miserably year after year, yet the French "Education Nationale" still makes a desperate attempt to turn its pupils into well-rounded intellectuals.

That certainly sounds like a utopian pursuit to me.

The French have long been very proud of their school system, which, undeniably, was held up as an example in the past. But how does the French system fare today? How do French "lycées" compare with US public high schools, for example? An OECD survey conducted in 2000 revealed that 15-year-olds in France and in the US show approximately the same average command of basic skills (reading, mathematics and science). Does that mean that the two systems are now more or less equivalent? In their (mediocre) effectiveness --increasingly so. In their teaching methods -- probably not.

Cultural force-feeding

Firstly the French system rests on two basic principles. The first is spelled out on every school building: "Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité." That means that all schools should impart exactly the same knowledge to all students regardless of their social backgrounds. The second is that "savoir, c'est pouvoir" ("knowledge is power").

The intention is certainly praiseworthy and the system is not totally devoid of merit but it is blatantly losing its effectiveness. Why is that? Firstly the idea of "égalité" is foolish. Teaching exactly the same thing in the same way to all students may be likened to equality but it is anything but fair. Not all individuals learn at the same speed or in the same way. By achieving this sort of "égalité" more inequalities are generated. Rather counter-productive, wouldn't you say?

As for knowledge, it can only translate into power if it is practical knowledge put to effective use. Cramming a student's head, within the space of one year, with what happened over the course of the last 3,000 years, as is the case for the history class that students in "seconde" (the equivalent of the US 10th grade) have to attend, smacks of cultural force-feeding! Not to mention the compulsory "philosophy" class in "terminale" (12th grade) which mainly results in most students pouring forth such nonsense that one might wonder what the point of the class is in the first place.

Comrades in mediocrity?

The purpose of the US school system is different as it seems to be more practical in nature. Students are encouraged to express themselves more personally and more freely, which could be a good thing if what was said was somewhat more regulated. While a large number of French students are made incapable of personal thought by France's "Education Nationale," the US public school system seems to have the opposite effect with students voicing anything that crosses their mind, and teachers usually failing to control the flow. In any case, most US high school students are hardly better off than their French counterparts. So neither country has any reason to gloat!

The land of thinkers

So, in order to improve the French system, a happy medium would have to be reached between culture and practical knowledge. But "there's the rub!" Getting us French people to change the way we view education is just as complicated as getting Hamlet to make a swift decision about his future. Why? Because of our cultural culture, of course!

Do you know any other country in the world where there is a powerful "Ministère de la Culture," where philosophers regularly appear on TV and actively take part in national debates, and where a whole annual TV show is devoted to "La Dictée" (dictation), so people may have fun checking their spelling and grammatical skills?

Is there any hope, doctor?

Admittedly, the French road to culture is paved with good intentions. I remember a German teacher at my school once explained to me that our job as teachers was to make proper French citizens out of our students and ensure that they could make informed decisions. I certainly applaud the intention. However, I was flabbergasted when she added that her job was therefore not to teach her students everyday practical German. "We're not a language school," she said condescendingly.

I must confess I am rather pessimistic about our ability as a people and that of our "Ministère de l'Education Nationale" (regarded to be the most centralized ministry in the world!) to effect the necessary changes in the near future. But we are a whimsical people and, who knows, the next French revolution might be an educational one.

The cultural end note… sorry, French reflex!

By the way, "incipit" is the technical term referring to the opening words of a book. As for Queen Mathilda, she was William the Conqueror's wife, erroneously thought to have stitched the Bayeux tapestry, which describes her husband's conquest of England in 1066. Now try and use that in a conversation!

About the Author

Pascal Jacquelin of Delta Training, has over 15 years' experience under his belt both as a translator and a trainer. At the age of 17 while pursuing his translation degree, he was quickly singled out for his exceptional linguistic abilities and had no difficulty finding a job as an English teacher and translator with a major language school in Paris. His eagerness to diversify his experience led him to move on to teaching young adults. After passing the prestigious Agrégation teaching diploma with flying colors (he came in 10th in France), he worked his way up as course organizer in a fast-expanding university outside Paris where he taught Translation, Business Negotiation and Public Speaking for five years.

Click here for more information about Pascal Jacquelin's translations services.