Originally published in 1985. The French education system is unique in many ways and provides a useful contrast for those in all English-speaking countries to their own education system. The nature of the system; the resulting multiplicity of Inspectors; emphasis on nursery and primary schools and on vocational training; and the distinctions between different categories of teachers. This book provides an overview of the French education system and all its components. It discusses developments since the start of the Fifth Republic in 1958 and it relates the developments to changing political forces.
In The Slow Professor, Maggie Berg and Barbara K. Seeber discuss how adopting the principles of the Slow movement in academic life can counter the erosion of humanistic education.
71% of French school children “regularly suffer from irritability.” 63% are nervous. One in four has stomach or headaches once a week or more. 40% complain of frequent insomnia. Why is France the only nation in the world that discourages its children for what they aren’t, rather than encouraging them to be who they are?
In common with most industrialised countries, France has undertaken an ambitious programme of education reform over the last fifteen years. This book uses key extracts from contemporary writing to examine exactly how and why that process has happened, focusing on all stages of the education system. Sections cover the main characteristics of school reform in France, its aims and objectives, a discussion of the desirability of and politics surrounding the reform process, and explorations of classroom practice, the changing role of parents, standards in schools, and the curriculum. Because of its high quality, wide and up-to-date coverage of the area, this book will be a vital reference text for all those working in this field.
This handbook focuses on and compares the education systems in the three Americas: North, Central and South America, and includes a chapter on most countries in the region. The chapters follow a common structure and include schematic diagrams of the structure of mainstream education from pre-primary to tertiary level. Each chapter starts with a description of the historical and social foundations of the education system from the post-World War II period up to today, including political, economic and cultural contexts and conditions. By highlighting important dates and structural decisions, the current education system can be understood as resulting from past developments. The first part ends with a description of the transitions to the labour market that are offered, and the way in which these are organized in the education system described. The second part consists of an overview of the institutional and organizational principles as well as the structure of education from pre-primary to tertiary level. It includes a focus on legislative bases and financial provisions for the education system and a description of the structure by using the ISCED-classification. It further includes information of the supply of human resources such as teachers and other educators. The third and final part of the handbook discusses selected educational trends and aspects. In this context, three topics are of particular interest: dealing with inequality, ICT and digitization activities, and STEM-related policies and programmes.
First published in 1979, this now classic text presents a major study of the development of educational systems, focusing in detail on those of England, Denmark, France, and Russia - chosen because of their present educational differences and the historical diversity of their cultures and social structures. Professor Archer goes on to provide a theoretical framework which accounts for the major characteristics of national education and the principal changes that such systems have undergone. Now with a new introduction, Social Origins of Educational Systems is vital reading for all those interested in the sociology of education. Previously published reviews: 'A large-scale masterly study, this book is the most important contribution to the sociology of education since the second world war as well as being a substantial contribution to the consolidation of sociology itself.' - The Economist 'I cannot improve on her own statement of what she is trying to do: 'The sociological contribution consists in providing a theoretical account of macroscopic patterns of change in terms of the structural and cultural factors which produce and sustain them'...Unquestionably, this book is an impressive work of scholarship, well planned conceptually and uniting its theoretical base with a set of four thoroughly and interestingly researched case-studies of the history of the educational systems of Denmark, England, France and Russia.' - British Journal of the Sociology of Education 'This magnificent treatise seriously explores many of the most recalcitrant questions about institutional systems.' - Journal of Curriculum Studies 'A gargantuan and impressive socio-historical enterprise.' - Encounter '...a major achievement.' - New Society
Originally published in 1971. This book looks at the French educational services. which had been being reformed over the 1960s. The dynamic for change stemmed from population pressures, higher aspirations and students' dissatisfaction. The author shows how attempts to reform have been limited by administrative, political and cultural restraints. He also explores the whole complex of inter-related professional problems which face the reformers, including the need to revise and modernize the syllabus of work in many subjects, relationships between students and their teachers, and changes in the professional education of teachers. The book will interest all those interested in the working of an educational system and its relationship to the society around it.
