Notes for a Comparison Of the Systems of Education of Argentina and France: A Case Study

Abstract

This study presents a comparative analysis of the systems of education of Argentina and France at the beginning of the first decade of the twenty-first century. A case study approach is used for the comparison, which consists of examining the experience of an Argentine adolescent girl who was initially enrolled in the first year of secondary school in her country, where she completed one semester, and subsequently moved to France, where she finished her secondary education. The data for the study was gathered through interviews with school directors, teachers, and teaching coordinators; observation (in some cases participant observation) in Argentina and France; and documentary analysis (report cards from both countries, written evaluations from the two schools, etc.). The names of the people interviewed or observed are naturally omitted to preserve their privacy, in particular in the case of the Argentine subjects. At least several of the factors that affect the quality of education in Argentina and which are listed throughout this study operate in both the pubic and private sector; moreover, the observations made with regard to the school in Argentina are to a large extent applicable to the system as a whole. In sum, the institutional operation rationales, the implementation of syllabus designs with significant margins of flexibility, a strong leadership conducted as part of a team effort, and the monitoring of performance, as well as the provision of personalized responses to the problems faced by students, are the factors that most greatly influence the quality of education.The organizational rationales, teaching strategies, syllabus designs, systemic characteristics, and educational quality of both systems are analyzed, as well as the academic performance of the student in both settings and that of the student’s class in France. Focus is placed on the factors that explain a major change in the student after only one year of studying in France, as compared to the semester she studied in Argentina. The analysis of the curricular, evaluation, and organizational rationale are prioritized with the aim of providing examples of certain important systemic characteristics of the two education systems. Special attention is given to pedagogical practices, evaluation strategies and the mechanisms used to monitor students in both cases, as well as the systems of rewards and penalties used. The characteristics shared by the two schools and their respective education systems are considered and explained. The main features of Argentine and French teachers in general are also described, based on information provided by the two Ministries of Education and existing literature on the subject.