Page 53 - Štremfel, Urška, and Maša Vidmar (eds.). 2018. Early School Leaving: Contemporary European Perspectives. Ljubljana: Pedagoški inštitut.
P. 53
the esl situation in france
context in which experiments within the TITA project are taking place,
thus guiding the interpretation and generalisations of the findings.
Methodology
The article draws information from European documents (European
Commission – EC, Eurydice), Eurostat, ministerial documents on ESL and
other documents and reports available online (prepared by French local
governments or institutions). A search for scientific articles was conduct-
ed using the key words ‘early school leaving’, ‘drop-out’ and ‘France’ in the
ASU Libraries search engine, resulting in very few hits (only one was rel-
evant to this article). This supports Berthet and Simon’s (2012) claim that
up until very recently only a few academic works had examined this topic
in France (academic articles in English are even rarer; for an exception, see
the review by Thibert, 2013). A search was also conducted using the back-
ward procedure.
Some relevant characteristics of the French education system
Education in France is compulsory between the ages of 6 and 16 (Eurydice,
2014). This period is marked by two transitions: from primary school (école
élémentaire, ages 6–11 years) to lower secondary education (collège, ages 11–
15 years) and then to upper secondary education (lycée, ages 15–18 years).
Streaming begins after the end of collège with the transition to lycée at age
15; the first year of lycée is part of the compulsory education. Lycée can be
general/technical, professional or can serve as an apprenticeship. Grade re-
tention is possible, but under a new law (Guidance and Programming Law,
2013-595) this became an ‘exceptional’ practice (Eurydice, n.d.). Moreover,
early childhood education (ECEC) is strong in France; children over 3 years
are legally entitled to a free place in écolle maternelle; over 99% of chil-
dren attend (EC/EACEA/Eurydice/Eurostat, 2014). Schools are obliged
to provide education and career guidance services; these are provided by
school staff and guidance counsellors outsourced from the Information
and Orientation Centres (EC/EACEA/Eurydice/Cedefop, 2014).
Another special feature of the French education system is the educa-
tional non-teaching educational staff conseiller principal d’éducation (CPE
– chief education advisor). The CPE is senior staff responsible for ensuring
that school life runs smoothly and supports pupils’ learning (Eurydice, n.d.).
These responsibilities mainly cover running of the school (organisation of
53
context in which experiments within the TITA project are taking place,
thus guiding the interpretation and generalisations of the findings.
Methodology
The article draws information from European documents (European
Commission – EC, Eurydice), Eurostat, ministerial documents on ESL and
other documents and reports available online (prepared by French local
governments or institutions). A search for scientific articles was conduct-
ed using the key words ‘early school leaving’, ‘drop-out’ and ‘France’ in the
ASU Libraries search engine, resulting in very few hits (only one was rel-
evant to this article). This supports Berthet and Simon’s (2012) claim that
up until very recently only a few academic works had examined this topic
in France (academic articles in English are even rarer; for an exception, see
the review by Thibert, 2013). A search was also conducted using the back-
ward procedure.
Some relevant characteristics of the French education system
Education in France is compulsory between the ages of 6 and 16 (Eurydice,
2014). This period is marked by two transitions: from primary school (école
élémentaire, ages 6–11 years) to lower secondary education (collège, ages 11–
15 years) and then to upper secondary education (lycée, ages 15–18 years).
Streaming begins after the end of collège with the transition to lycée at age
15; the first year of lycée is part of the compulsory education. Lycée can be
general/technical, professional or can serve as an apprenticeship. Grade re-
tention is possible, but under a new law (Guidance and Programming Law,
2013-595) this became an ‘exceptional’ practice (Eurydice, n.d.). Moreover,
early childhood education (ECEC) is strong in France; children over 3 years
are legally entitled to a free place in écolle maternelle; over 99% of chil-
dren attend (EC/EACEA/Eurydice/Eurostat, 2014). Schools are obliged
to provide education and career guidance services; these are provided by
school staff and guidance counsellors outsourced from the Information
and Orientation Centres (EC/EACEA/Eurydice/Cedefop, 2014).
Another special feature of the French education system is the educa-
tional non-teaching educational staff conseiller principal d’éducation (CPE
– chief education advisor). The CPE is senior staff responsible for ensuring
that school life runs smoothly and supports pupils’ learning (Eurydice, n.d.).
These responsibilities mainly cover running of the school (organisation of
53
