Proposal
Steps/ Timeline
To reshape a
whole education system would take years to do, but if the education system was
ever to be changed, it would have to start at the root of the problem. In
France, “kids start school very early: school starts at age 2 (for 52% of
children) or 3 (for almost 100%)” (Rochefort).
In the United States, children do not even start first grade until they
are around 5 or 6 (“American school system”). Changing this aspect of our
education system would get children learning at a much younger age, preparing
them for the hard school life they have ahead of them.
France’s education system is very complex because after children complete what the French consider high school, they have to take a test called the “Baccalauréat”(BAC). The BAC consists of, in the case of this author’s son, a “four-hour essay tests in economics, English, French, history, and philosophy [ ] as well as exams in math, sciences, and foreign languages [and also includes] oral interrogations in literature, history, and geography” (Matlack). In the United States, tests for classes like these are only ever heard of when students get into college, not right before they have to go to college. To make it simple, the BAC to the French is like the ACT’s or SAT’s to the United States; they are required to get a higher education. The only difference is that if students in France happen to pass this test, they automatically get accepted into Universities with only the students that do very well on this test getting accepted to the Grandes Écoles. Now some may think “that’s it? They get to go to universities just for passing a test?” Well after students get into their universities in France, “only the best 10 per cent are accepted in the second year” ("Higher education: Universities, grandes,"). The price for education in France is challenging and vigorous but if Americans wanted to change the way education in the United States is now, this may be an option we have to consider.
France’s education system is very complex because after children complete what the French consider high school, they have to take a test called the “Baccalauréat”(BAC). The BAC consists of, in the case of this author’s son, a “four-hour essay tests in economics, English, French, history, and philosophy [ ] as well as exams in math, sciences, and foreign languages [and also includes] oral interrogations in literature, history, and geography” (Matlack). In the United States, tests for classes like these are only ever heard of when students get into college, not right before they have to go to college. To make it simple, the BAC to the French is like the ACT’s or SAT’s to the United States; they are required to get a higher education. The only difference is that if students in France happen to pass this test, they automatically get accepted into Universities with only the students that do very well on this test getting accepted to the Grandes Écoles. Now some may think “that’s it? They get to go to universities just for passing a test?” Well after students get into their universities in France, “only the best 10 per cent are accepted in the second year” ("Higher education: Universities, grandes,"). The price for education in France is challenging and vigorous but if Americans wanted to change the way education in the United States is now, this may be an option we have to consider.
Outcome/Rationale
Any idea has good and bad
sides to both. The cons of changing over to the French education system would be
that fact that it is a big change. It would basically be redoing all of the education
system and changing it into something very different to what there is now, and some
people may not welcome that big of a change. Also the fact that we would have to
start adding many more classes to high schools and that is hard to do when budget
cuts are at a rise in the United States. And when digging deeper into the French
education system, it shows the true reason why universities are not so popular in
France and why students strive to go to Grandes Ecoles. “Universities do
not offer as many services and facilities as American universities and [ ] only
Grandes Ecoles compare to the US system” which means that normal university in France,
the one you automatically get accepted into, does not have the gym or the food,
or even the dorms that people would typically see in the United States (Rochefort).
“Universities
are the weakest part of the French education system” and unlike most United States
universities “lecture halls are packed and students have no tutorial system and
little supervision” along with “most courses [not being] tailored to specific
careers” which means they go to a free school for nothing ("Higher education: Universities,
grandes,"). So people can complain all they want, but as you can see, the grass
is not always greener on the other side.
Although there are cons, there are also pros. Making the switch over to the French education system would give Americans the opportunity to try something new. It would give students a chance to get into college for practically nothing; all they would have to do is pass a test. Also, making students take more classes in high school and having them start school sooner would improve the education of students in the United States. Most students do not even hear of classes like economics or philosophy until they are in college. This would also make it easier to sort out the people who deserve to be in college and who would not. Having only one way of getting into higher education would make students really focus on their education.
Although there are cons, there are also pros. Making the switch over to the French education system would give Americans the opportunity to try something new. It would give students a chance to get into college for practically nothing; all they would have to do is pass a test. Also, making students take more classes in high school and having them start school sooner would improve the education of students in the United States. Most students do not even hear of classes like economics or philosophy until they are in college. This would also make it easier to sort out the people who deserve to be in college and who would not. Having only one way of getting into higher education would make students really focus on their education.
Conclusion
The United States is a long way from making any major changes to the education system. They are working on solving the problems now but having options like starting to base our education off other countries is always there. People in America just need to decide whether it is worth all the change and whether they can just accept that there will always be some sort of catch to any system of education.