Education in France:

Catalog description

This course aims to give students the tools to understand the general structure of the French educational system and its evolution since the late 19th century as well as the making of educational social inequalities. Combining history and sociology, and drawing on both theoretical and empirical work, this course explores the segments of the French educational system in all their diversity: general and vocational education, primary, secondary and higher education, public and private education, education in metropolitan France as well as in the colonies and overseas. The course explores how the construction of a "meritocratic" Republican educational system led to a unified but hierarchical educational system. It examines the various factors contributing to educational inequalities. It looks at the diverse outcomes of degrees, based on class, gender and race.