French Schools

There are countless cultural differences that I've encountered since being here, but none seem to be so apparent as in the French schooling system. Inès and I have spent a great deal of time comparing our respective high school experiences and both of us are always astonished at the other's school norms. As someone who'd like to go into education, this topic especially interests me, so I've compiled a list of differences between French and American schools:

• Grading. I've mentioned this before, but the French grading scale is out of 20, and 20s are never, ever given out. It's their way of motivation, a way of telling the students "keep working cause you'll never be good enough". While an 11 out of 20 may be a 55% in America, it's France's equivalent of a B or B-.
• Attendance. I don't know if it's all French schools or just the one my host siblings attend, but they take attendance really seriously. I think in high school, we were allowed 9 excused absences a semester. My host family told me that if you miss school once without a legitimate excuse (family death, illness, etc.), you get expelled
• Fun (or lack thereof). In grade school, it wasn't uncommon to have a fun lesson. In language classes, we'd watch movies, play games, and sing songs. 70% of  my Economics class in high school was based off of interactive games (yes, we played Monopoly). I remember in Geometry, we had a day where our assignment was to calculate how much ice cream could fit in a cone, crunch the price numbers, and determine how badly ice cream shops rip you off. Of course, at the end of this lesson, we put our calculations to the test with real ice cream in class. In France, schools are very studious and lessons are very cut and dry; no-nonsense or fun allowed.
• Public Humiliation. I've also mentioned this before, but I still can't get over how French teachers call you out in front of the class. In the states, teachers have to remain partial and never reveal anything about a student's progress in front of other students. In France, they see it as motivation to let everyone in the room know your intellectual status. For example, my French teacher's recurring comment on my essays is that I need to go back and re-learn verb conjugations. The other day, le prof wrote a sentence on the board and asked us what was wrong with it. The problem was an incorrectly conjugated verb, so I raised my hand to correct it. The teacher sarcastically said, "Ah, Kah-tee, our resident conjugation expert!" She's lucky that I grew up in the Parent family and, as a result, have alligator-thick skin.
• Teachers. French teachers sound like real ball-busters. Madamde read an article in the French newspaper the other day about American schools. "Is it true", she asked me, "that in America, teachers appreciate it when students tell on other students for cheating, lying, etc?" I replied that yes, a teacher would be very grateful to know when students are being dishonest on exams and such. My host family couldn't believe that. They said that if a student tattled in France, the teacher would admonish them because other people's dishonesty is none of their business. French teachers are also zero fun. My host siblings couldn't believe that in the States, many teachers are actually funny and make class entertaining. It really threw them for a loop when I told them that fun teachers even find it humorous when subjected to the occasional prank or two.
• Parent Mentality. I feel that in the past 20 years or so, the phrase "spare the rod, spoil the child" has really flourished in American schools (literally and figuratively...c'mon, what ever happened to good ol' corporal punishment?). I've personally seen parents marching into the counseling office, yelling at the guidance counselor, demanding to know why the teacher "gave" their little princess a bad grade. It seems like teachers are at the mercy of parents and are sometimes receiving angry e-mails for things that were the student's own fault or neurotic emails from hover moms. In high school, our teachers used to tell us "you want something to change? Have your parents write the school district", basically admitting that the parents hold all of the power in public schools. My host family told me that this couldn't be further from the truth in France. Here, teachers are highly respected by parents. Whenever a student receives a bad grade or gets in trouble at school, in their parents' eyes, it's always the student's fault, no questions asked. The teacher being "biased" or "out to get me" is a totally foreign idea, because adults will always side with the teacher.
• Extra-Curriculars. In France, these don't exist. School is a place to learn, and nothing more than that. Coming from a former student body president, I find this appalling. Actually, in high school, the only kids who ever expressed a strong desire to "get out of school" were the ones who didn't take advantage of the multitude of clubs, sports, and activities offered. The majority of my fondest high school memories take place during theatre, student government, and other out-of-school activities that I was involved in and couldn't imagine a high school experience without them. My host siblings got so excited when I showed them my prom pictures and explained that the school throws a giant dance at a fancy location, and that many students even arrive in limousines. School dances are a foreign concept because, as I said, school is nothing but where you go to learn. I find this so disappointing and think that somebody really needs to knock some sense into these Frenchies.

Neither system is more effective than the other; both American and French schools produce functioning members of society. Personally, I feel that if the strict schooling is no more beneficial than the interactive, laid back approach, why not go with the fun one? It sounds to me like the French education system fell out of the boring tree and hit every branch on the way down. I realize that I'm totally biased because I had a great experience growing up in American schools, but I just couldn't imagine school being a place that's all study and no fun. Let's just say that learning about my host siblings' school has made me even more grateful for the awesome grade school experience that I had. God bless the USA!

Affectueusement,

Katie