W. R. Fraser - Education Society in Modern France

The International Library of Sociology

EDUCATION AND SOCIETY IN MODERN FRANCE

Founded by KARL MANNHEIM

The International Library of Sociology

THE SOCIOLOGY OF EDUCATION

In 28 Volumes

EDUCATION AND SOCIETY IN MODERN FRNCE

by

W. R. FRSER

First published in 1963 by

Routledge

Reprinted 1998, 2000, 2001, 2002

by Routledge

2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN

711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017

Transferred to Digital Printing 2007

Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group

First issued in paperback 2013

1963 W. R. Fraser

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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Education and Society in Modern France

978-0-415-17755-9 (hbk)

978-0-415-86398-8 (pbk)

The Sociology of Education: 28 Volumes

978-0-415-17833-4

The International Library of Sociology: 274 Volumes

978-0-415-17838-9

Publishers Note

The publisher has gone to great lengths to ensure the quality of this reprint but points out that some imperfections in the original may be apparent

P OST-WAR plans for the reshaping of the school system in France have succeeded and superseded each other with confusing rapidity. They reflect the vigorous attempts of intelligent Frenchmen to construct an educational system that will be adequate for the resurgent, industrial, prosperous, democratic country whose mission as a model of civilization and enlightenment they still proclaim. Of the many measures drafted the most fascinating are the bill submitted in 1957 to the National Assembly by M. Billres, the reforms effected in January 1959 by the decree of General de Gaulle and M. Berthoin, the Law of 31st December 1959 according official status and State subventions to private (Catholic) schools, and the administrative reforms carried out in 1960 within the Ministry of National Education.

These measures had some effect upon each other. The reforms of January 1959 were inevitably weighed in the balance against the 1957 bill which the National Assembly did not enact. Control over the observation cycle instituted by decree in January 1959 and over the granting of status to private schools under the Law of 31st December 1959 necessitated the creation of new functions within the Ministry of National Education and hastened the partial reform of its internal structure. Nevertheless, these measures are not considered here in their chronological order. Our purpose is rather the analysis and identification of forces at work than the record of events as they occurred, for the effect of the measures upon each other was slight compared with the larger economic and social pressures compelling or resisting change.

Despite the measures taken, dissatisfaction with the school system, its syllabuses and its methods continues to be felt acutely and is aggravated by the educational explosion of rapidly increasing numbers of pupils. The principles of reform have been lengthily debated by the various professional, social, political and religious groups in France. The resulting legislation has brought about changes with which nobody is content. Each group watches anxiously lest its opponents derive greater benefit and unexpected advantage from the application of the legal texts, and hopes for a chance to revive its own unrealized projects.

My own view is that these changes are uncomfortable compromises and that the dynamic of reform cannot be halted for long. I have tried not to let this judgement become obtrusive. It should be possible for readers to reach their own conclusions about the lessons to be learned from studying the social obstacles that stand in the way of the radical reform of a traditional, respected, but in important respects outmoded educational service. A major purpose of this book has been to allow the various protagonists to speak for themselves. Much of the text is, therefore, original French documentary material translated and presented with a minimum of comment, so that the English-speaking student of French affairs can sense for himself the sharpness of French argument. Such assessment of the forces shaping French social and educational policies as I have attempted has been undertaken in order to shed light on the process of debate and reform in France, rather than to encourage the taking of sides.