Comments on: French children left behind

By: Walter E. Wallis

Walter E. Wallis — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 01:27:15 +0000

JJ, when does the French version of your book go on the market – sounds like they could use it there.

By: Catch Thirty-Thr33

Catch Thirty-Thr33 — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 10:08:31 +0000

…and it’s not just the public schools. French universities, like much of the rest of “mainland” Europe, are in terrible shape. The only French universities worth attending are the elite ENA schools that tend to churn out their ruling class (with the current Sarkozy administration being an exception).

By: Ragnarok

Ragnarok — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 06:42:25 +0000

“He thinks their schools may be in worse shape than ours. Constructivism, whole language, â€œkinesthetic learning,â€ â€œFrench across the curriculum,â€ etc.

Alas, poor Yorick!

Could’na hae happened to a nicer people!

By: Catherine Johnson

Catherine Johnson — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 23:29:59 +0000

Ed just came home with the new copy of le nouvel Observateur.

Cover story: ecole
Le scandale de l’illettrisme

40% des eleves de 63 en difficulte
Fautes d’orthographe chez les etudiants
Stages de mise a niveau pour les cadres

He thinks their schools may be in worse shape than ours. Constructivism, whole language, “kinesthetic learning,” “French across the curriculum,” etc.

By: Catherine Johnson

Catherine Johnson — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 22:18:07 +0000

Last but not least, Ed spoke this week with a woman who sent her two children to the French Lysee here, in Manhattan.

She said the education was incredible.

The one problem, she said, was that the curriculum was so rigorous and so set that they wouldn’t allow tracking or acceleration — not because they wanted everyone to be equal, but because the curriculum, not the students’ abilities, “ruled.”

I thought that was interesting.

By: Catherine Johnson

Catherine Johnson — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 22:16:05 +0000

otoh, this week he took part in a dissertation defense of a graduate student from France. She was superbly educated, he said. She knew the Bible, she knew Aristotle, she knew everything and could talk fluently and knowledgeably about subjects our students never even see in a dissertation defense, which is a high-stress situation.

Of course, she is in her 20s (I assume).

By: Catherine Johnson

Catherine Johnson — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 22:14:07 +0000

Ed goes to France pretty regularly, and has been hearing similar complaints to ours over here — and these are from college professors trying to educate their children in public schools deemed to be good. The couple he talked to got the run-around from their superintendent (or perhaps the principal, not sure) and finally ended up sending their children to Catholic school.

As I recall (it’s hazy now), these parents had moved to a particular town specifically for the good schools, then had all kinds of trouble with placement, etc. (I’m thinking the school decided to put the children in the not-so-good school after having said they could enroll in the better school, but again, it’s hazy now.)

I think I also recall that one or both of them actively loathed Catholic schools, because he/she (or both) was a) not religious and b) went to Catholic schools as a child and had bad memories.

In other words, these were college professors who had zero interest in Catholic schools for their children, and the public school situation was so bad that’s where they ended up.

By: Walter E. Wallis

Walter E. Wallis — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 20:00:28 +0000

Perhaps the little dears are too tired from an evening burning cars to pay attention in class. Perhaps the missing link in this article is ethnicity. Perhaps they need an incentive – pass or go back. Algeria was France and they didn’t llike it.