Lower Secondary Education in France: From Uniformity to Institutional Autonomy

Abstract

The type of education in France that corresponds to the English notion of the 'comprehensive school' is referred to as the 'ecole unique'. As regards organisation, the two concepts are roughly similar: both try to avoid early tracking of pupils and instead keep together children from different backgrounds and of different abilities, which results in the creation of a special kind of school that takes all 11 to 15 year olds. In France, these lower secondary schools are called 'colleges' and the introduction of such schools is called the 'reform of the college unique'. In both traditions, this type of organisation is closely linked to efforts to democratise education, i.e. creating social unity by giving everybody the same education and offering educational opportunities to lower class children. Although the forms of organisation may be similar, they have arisen from different historical and political traditions which give each one a particular character.