egb_hibs
Private Member
- Joined
- Jul 2, 2002
What do you make of this article which complains that the French system makes kids feel 'useless' if they don't know their subject.
British lecturer Peter Gumbel attacks French education culture | World news | The Observer
On one hand it paints quite a negative picture, on the other, there is a rather telling statement;
"Although the French with their national curriculum have maintained standards and avoided being dumbed down, their system focuses on the transmission of knowledge and doesn't even remotely address the child or their wellbeing.
There is more to school than getting good marks, and in Britain schools are not just a about your brain but about sport and arts and finding lots of different ways of excelling. The British system may focus less on results, but it nurtures self-esteem, personality and character, which is something totally missing from the French system and this is tragic."
I wonder if the french are at fault here, or if this is the folly of the british approach encapsulated in this passage.
This all sounds good to those among the privileged classes, but I'm not so sure this emphasis hasn't contributed considerably to the death of social mobility.
Thoughts? :coffee:
British lecturer Peter Gumbel attacks French education culture | World news | The Observer
On one hand it paints quite a negative picture, on the other, there is a rather telling statement;
"Although the French with their national curriculum have maintained standards and avoided being dumbed down, their system focuses on the transmission of knowledge and doesn't even remotely address the child or their wellbeing.
There is more to school than getting good marks, and in Britain schools are not just a about your brain but about sport and arts and finding lots of different ways of excelling. The British system may focus less on results, but it nurtures self-esteem, personality and character, which is something totally missing from the French system and this is tragic."
I wonder if the french are at fault here, or if this is the folly of the british approach encapsulated in this passage.
This all sounds good to those among the privileged classes, but I'm not so sure this emphasis hasn't contributed considerably to the death of social mobility.
Thoughts? :coffee: