Data di Pubblicazione:
2012
Citazione:
The French republican school under pressure: falling standards, and rising inequalities / P. Mattei. - In: FRENCH POLITICS. - ISSN 1476-3419. - 10:1(2012 Apr), pp. 84-95. [10.1057/fp.2012.3]
Abstract:
In the historical development of the relationship between education
and society, primary education in France has played a central role. The French
educational system is one of the most stable public institutions, given its
constitutional significance and relevance for the embodiment of the republican
virtues. Its organisational structure has remained almost unchanged since the Loi
Goblet, enacted on 30 October 1886. The principles of universalism, uniformity
and equality of opportunity have marked over time that policy developments in
France aimed at fighting inherited disadvantage and lifting children above the
poverty line through state-based education. The scholarly focus on the institutional
and administrative dimension of the French system of education has helped
illuminate some of the difficulties associated with the implementation of change,
including the disappointing experience with the introduction of positive discrimination
in the 1980s. However, to date, the empirical evidence of the effects of
educational reforms that were implemented remains unfortunately secondary to the
conventional wisdom of the ‘politics of non-reform’ and institutional inertia.
Governmental initiatives have concentrated on tackling educational underachievements
in basic literacy and numeracy in primary schools. The empirical
findings in this article point not only to the general deterioration of educational
achievements, but also to a persisting gap between pupils from different social
background. The article will document how educational inequalities driven by
different social economic groups have increased, despite government efforts and
new policy initiatives in the 1980s and 1990s.
Tipologia IRIS:
01 - Articolo su periodico
Keywords:
educational system; republicanism; equality of opportunity; policy;
Elenco autori:
P. Mattei
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