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Initial Teacher Training: the FrenchviewJohn Holyoake aa Department of French , The University , Western Bank,Sheffield, S10 2TN, United KingdomPublished online: 03 Aug 2006.
To cite this article: John Holyoake (1993) Initial Teacher Training: the French view, Journal ofEducation for Teaching: International research and pedagogy, 19:2, 215-226
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Journal of Education for Teaching, Vol. 19, No. 2, 1993 215
Initial Teacher Training: theFrench viewJOHN HOLYOAKEDepartment of French, The University, Western Bank, Sheffield S10 2TN, UnitedKingdom
ABSTRACT This paper, against the background of trends in the development of initialteacher training in Europe as a whole, identifies and explains some of the recent, radicalreforms which were introduced in France by a socialist government. These include the needto raise the status and the competence of the teaching profession; the creation of newteacher-training institutions of university status (Instituts universitaires de formation desmaitres); the introduction of common entry qualifications at degree level for both primaryand secondary levels; the harmonisation and the extension to 2 years of the post-degreeteacher-training course and the increase in emphasis placed on professional training, boththeoretical and practical. These reforms provoked a storm of protest and an examination ofthe reasons for this reveals a multiplicity of crucial questions which have far-reachingimplications.
INTRODUCTION
Initial teacher training has often been a highly controversial item on the politicalagenda. Readers of D. P. Gilroy's paper in this journal (1992) will know only toowell how contentious the dispute has been on this subject in England and Wales forsome years and especially in 1992. A controversy on the same subject has hit theheadlines in France where the socialist government, over the last 2 years, imple-mented reforms in teacher training which move in precisely the opposite directionfrom those of the conservative government in England and Wales. The key issuescentre on professional training. What are its objectives? How long should it be? Whoshould provide it? Whereas the government in England and Wales has taken anextremely sceptical view and is reducing the role of teacher-training institutions, inFrance, by contrast, the government has created new institutions, Instituts universi-taires de formation des maîtres (IUFMs) and has increased the length and breadth ofprofessional training at all levels.
The purpose of this paper is to examine in some detail how France rethoughtits initial teacher-training programme in order to respond to a changing political,economic and educational climate. Before concentrating on France, however, it will
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be useful to set the question of initial teacher training in a broader context, if notinternational, then at least European.
The paper was completed before the general election in France in March 1993at which time the socialist government was swept from power. There was muchspeculation prior to the elections that a new right-wing government, whose spokes-men in opposition had strongly opposed the creation of the IUFMs, might abolishthem when they came to power. This has not happened.
The Minister for Higher Education, Francois Fillon, in a guarded statement ata conference of university leaders in April 1993 announced the government'sintentions. First, a rapid, in-depth assessment of the IUFMs which would lead toreal improvements; second, an examination of the possible development of theseinstitutions.
THE EUROPEAN CONTEXT
Cross-cultural comparisons are notoriously difficult and in Europe there is a widediversity of systems based on a multiplicity of national traditions and culturalidentities. However, it is possible to identify the main features of initial teachertraining and to present a broad-brush picture from two wide-ranging surveys ofEuropean countries. Details of these surveys are at the end of this paper. The mainelements which are relevant here are the entry requirements at primary and sec-ondary levels, the length and the nature of the training periods, and the relativeimportance accorded to subject and professional training.
It is easier to describe the overall situation if primary and secondary levels aredifferentiated. To begin with the primary level; out of some 15 European countriessurveyed, all have a period of training for future teachers which lasts at least 3 yearsand in many cases begins immediately after the higher secondary school leavingcertificate (i.e. about 18 years of age). Some countries have had 4 or even 5 yearsof such training for some time (Finland, Germany, the Netherlands and Switzer-land, for example), while Denmark, Greece and France have comparatively recently(since the late 1980s) increased the 3-year period. In the vast majority of cases thetraining period includes a combination of subject studies and professional training,involving educational theory plus teaching observation and practice. It is worthnoting that in England and Wales, as well as Scotland, there is a non-compulsoryroute by which future primary teachers can acquire a degree and then go on to dotheir teacher training. In general, however, there is no requirement for futureprimary school teachers to have a degree qualification before commencing theirperiod of training except under the new system which has been recently imple-mented in France and which is described later in this paper.
Comparisons of the length of training for future secondary teachers is less easyto summarise because there are so many different structures based on a variety ofcombinations of age-breaks. This structural complexity, however, is not our concernhere. The secondary training pattern may, in some cases, be sub-divided into a lowerand an upper level so that teachers are specially trained for one or other level. Inother countries there is no differentiation between secondary levels and a unified
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course prepares all teachers who will be involved in secondary education. In themajority of cases (England and Wales, Ireland and Northern Ireland, Scotland,Portugal and Spain) a degree is normally a prerequisite for entry to the trainingcourse, although there are variations. For example, in Belgium and the Netherlandsthere is some professional training element within the degree which is then followedby a more intensive teacher- training course, and in Greece teacher training formspart of the third and fourth years of the degree course. Given the complexity of thedifferent systems it is not easy to establish the precise length of time which is devotedto educational theory, teaching methods and teaching practice.
In most European countries much closer attention is being given to thequalifications on entry at both primary and secondary level than hitherto. While wehave seen that a degree qualification is rarely required at primary level, it isbecoming increasingly a prerequisite for the secondary level, even the lower sec-ondary level. France is unique in requiring a degree for teacher training at bothlevels. This change may be seen as being the vanguard of the general movement inEurope to lengthen and upgrade the quality and status of professional training and,indeed, the profession as a whole. Furthermore, there is a European-wide tendencyto foster closer relationships between teacher training and university degrees andinstitutions, especially at primary level. Once again, France is in the forefront ofthese initiatives, while in England and Wales, the government seems determined tomove in the opposite direction.
This brings us to the final general point. In most countries, however theteacher-training programme is developing, there are difficult pedagogical (as well aspolitical and financial) questions simmering beneath the surface. Amongst the mostcontentious of these is: how does one reconcile the conflicting claims within thetraining programme of subject knowledge, on the one hand, and educational andpedagogical theory, plus the development of practical teaching skills, on the other?This controversy is nowhere more passionately addressed than in France.
Teacher Training in France
Let us now focus more clearly on recent changes in teacher training in France. First,however, some clarifications. The implementation of the French reforms in teachertraining is at an early stage. Three pilot schemes began at the start of the school year1990-91 and all regional education authorities (academies) were required to set uptheir own IUFMs in university towns 1 year later. All that one can say withconfidence is that progress has been patchy. It would be premature to attempt anevaluation.
One of the specified objectives of the French reform is to increase recruitment.More teachers are needed to deal with the high increase in the staying-on rateimplied by the objective of 80 % up to the level of the baccalaureat—a nationalexamination taken at the end of secondary level; there are, in addition, enormousproblems posed by the extremely high rate of retirements before the year 2000. Theminister recognised that these problems could not be solved, even in a period ofrelatively high unemployment, unless he tackled the question of low morale,
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unattractive salaries and working conditions, and the need to widen the traditionalpool of recruitment. Some sort of revalorisation ('raising of the status') of theteaching profession was a prerequisite if the government's policy was to be imple-mented. All teachers in French state schools are civil servants and, thus, any changein their salaries and status may have massive repercussions upon the hundreds ofthousands of other civil servants. Revalorisation, therefore, could only be justified ifthere was a corresponding rise in the minimum levels of entrance qualifications aswell as of professional training. Thus, two of the key, declared objectives—recruitingmore teachers and raising levels of professional competence—have to be seen in thecontext of the overall educational strategy of the then socialist government. Theharsh, practical imperatives were married to the pedagogically desirable.
THE HISTORICAL DIMENSION OF TEACHER TRAINING IN FRANCE
Before we can get to the heart of the debate over the IUFMs in France, however,we need to remind ourselves briefly not only of the current political context, but alsoof the crucial organisational and historical dimension of the teaching profession.
Prior to the introduction to the IUFMs, primary and secondary teachers inFrance were recruited with different qualifications, trained in different ways and indifferent institutions—Ecoles Normales d'Instituteurs (ENI) for primary and CentresPedagogiques Regionaux (CPR) for secondary. The distinctive appellations, instituteur/institutrice (primary teachers) and professeur (secondary teachers) have roots deeplyembedded in social, political and religious history.
One of the principal, divisive, structural features of the French educationalsystem, starting in the early nineteenth century and perpetuated until well intothe second half of the twentieth century, was the existence of two paralleleducational systems. To grasp the significance of this, we have to abandon themodern concept of an educational pyramid in which primary education leadsautomatically on to secondary education for everyone. Two parallel systems existedfor different classes of pupils. The first ensured education for a cultural elitefrom about the age of 6 and onwards, for those capable of it, to the baccalaureat at18 and again beyond that to university. The second, rather patchily to begin with,and only compulsorily and nationally in the 1890s as a result of Jules Ferry'slegislation, provided an elementary level of education for the masses with littleopportunity of continuation beyond what we would now call primary level. Evenwhen pressure led to the creation of classes above this level they were still part of thesame separate branch of primary education. Those who entered the first system hadthe opportunity to take the baccalaureat, to go to university and, if they wereattracted by teaching as a career, would train to become secondary teachers orprofesseurs. Those who entered the second, parallel system had no access to thebaccalaureat, were thus excluded from university and, if they were attracted toteaching could only seek to be trained at an ecole normale as an instituteur/institutrice.Each system was self-enclosed and self-perpetuating; the former was mainly thepreserve of the wealthy or very wealthy, the powerful and the culturally privileged,the latter was for the masses. The latter was viewed in different ways. Some thoughtit entirely appropriate to the education of the masses because they neither needed
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nor were, for the most part, capable of profiting from anything but the basics ofeducation; such a system would fulfil their modest needs, but ensure they couldmake an appropriate contribution to the state without aspiring to positions ofresponsibility beyond their competence. On the other hand, supporters of therepublican tradition saw the education of the majority as a power-base, and associ-ated primary education and the instituteur with social promotion and change.Opposition between the proselytising functions of the left-wing instituteur and theright wing cure (priest) or supporters of the monarchy gave rise to much animosityparticularly during the Third Republic (1870-1940). Traces of these antagonismsstill surface in this current debate.
TEACHER TRAINING PRIOR TO RECENT REFORMS
It is hardly surprising, in view of their historical development, that the two branchesof the school-teaching profession should be trained differently. To follow the currentchanges and the fierce debate which it has engendered it is necessary to enter intosome detail to show the contrast between the previous teacher-training schemes,already briefly referred to, and the new system
The contrast can be highlighted in schematic form. The French traditionallydescribe educational qualifications at this level as BAC plus 'a given number of yearsof further study'. Thus, (BAC + 2) implies that a person has passed the baccalau-reat and done 2 years of further study. One of the qualifications which results fromthis is a university diploma called the diplome d'etudes universitaires generates(DEUG). Though this was originally intended to be a qualification in its own right,it is now seen primarily as a necessary step to spend a third year at university toacquire a degree {licence) which can be described as (BAC + 3). A concours (referredto in the schematic form below) is a competitive qualifying examination obligatoryfor all prospective civil servants whilst titularisation is the final stage in the appoint-ment procedure to a statutory post in the civil service.
OUTLINE SCHEME OF INITIAL TEACHER TRAINING IN FRANCE
Prior to the Current Reforms
Instituteurs: BAC + 2 years (DEUG —> concours) + 2 years —> titularisation(primary level) (ENI)
Professeurs: BAC + 3 years (Licence —> concours) + 1 year —•> titularisation(secondary level) (CPR)
After the Reforms
Professeurs BAC + 3 years (Licence) + 2 years —> titularisationdes ecoles (primary level) (IUFM; concours atdes colleges (secondary level) end of 1st year)des lycees (secondary level)
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Over the last decade there have been many modifications to the training of primaryschool teachers. The most recent, prior to the creation of the IUFMs, was thatintending primary teachers needed a minimum qualification of the DEUG whichrequires a minimum of 2 years post-baccalaureat, following a university course.Holders of the DEUG could enter the concours, a competitive examination, which isa standard feature of recruitment procedures for civil servants. Success in theconcours allowed entry to an ENI to follow a 2-year course of training as aneleve-instituteur (student primary teacher) and the receipt of a salary. Successfulcompletion of the course would lead to qualified teacher status ( = titularisation).
The profile of the secondary school teacher prior to the reforms was marked bytwo major differences. The minimum qualification for the concours was (and re-mains) the licence, that is, a university degree involving the acquisition of the DEUGplus 1 year of further university study followed by examinations. Success in theconcours allowed entry to the CPR to follow a 1-year course of professional trainingas a professeur-stagiaire (trainee secondary teacher) in receipt of a salary. Successfulcompletion of the course would lead to the status of professeur certifie, by the awardof the Certificat d'Aptitude au Professorat de I'Enseignement du second Degre (CAPES).
These two categories of teachers, at primary and secondary level, are quitedistinctive. We should not, however, imagine that they cover the whole profession.Although the CAPES may perhaps be the best known, because of its associationwith the traditional and, some think, the most prestigious subjects, not all teachersin the colleges (for 11-16-year-old pupils) or those responsible for technological andprofessional/vocational course in the different lycees (for post-16-year-old pupils)have this particular qualification. The most common amongst the others are theCertificat d'Aptitude au Professorat de I'Enseignement Technique (CAPET) and theCertificat d'Aptitude au Professorat de Lycee Professionnel (CAPLP). The latter werepreviously trained in the Ecoles Normales Nationales d'Apprentissage (ENNA), institu-tions which, like the ENI and CPR already referred to, have been subsumed withinthe new IUFMs.
It is also worth noting that recruitment for the Certificat d'Aptitude au Professoratd'Enseignement General des Colleges (CAPEGC) ended in 1988 and does not formpart of the role of the IUFMs. This was a qualification for teachers of the first cycleof secondary education, that is, the sixieme to troisieme in the colleges (11-16). Theynormally taught two subjects (unlike most professeurs certifies) and were recruitedmainly from candidates with a DEUG, or from primary school teachers with thenecessary experience and/or qualifications who wished to change their career pat-tern. This area in which teachers of different educational backgrounds andqualifications worked together in the same institutions can be seen as either an earlystep towards the breaking down of the old instituteurlprofesseur divide or as a sourceof potential tensions.
CURRENT REFORMS AND THE CREATION OF THE IUFMs
It is not difficult to see why, therefore, in the light of the structural and cultural splitbetween instituteurs and professeurs certifies, as well as the somewhat hotch-potch, ad
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hoc arrangements for the training and recruitment of teachers in the colleges, adecision has been taken to make a radical move in the direction of greater coherencein the arrangements for initial teacher training.
All teachers, under the new arrangements, will need a university degree, a licence(or equivalent diploma) as a minimum qualification for entry into the trainingprogramme [1]: thus, the teaching profession will have an identical standardthroughout so far as the basic academic qualifications are concerned. There will beno black sheep in the family, at least in so far as paper qualifications are a measure.
Second, all teachers will have the same length of training (2 years) and in thesame university-based institute. The aspiration is that the separate ethos whichformerly reigned in each of the different teacher-training institutions (ENI, CPR,ENNA, etc.) should be harmonised within the coherent overall policy of the singleinstitution. This does not mean that all intending teachers will have an identicalcourse of training (though some critics have pretended that this is so); it means, aswe shall see in detail later that, first, a limited part of the professional training will,in fact, be identical; third, that the IUFM will be able to ensure that a more coherentethos informs both the theoretical and practical aspects of professional training thanproved to be the case under the previous system; fourth, that a proper balance canbe established for primary and secondary teachers between subject and professionaltraining.
SUBJECT TRAINING VERSUS PROFESSIONAL TRAINING
These two terms, subject and professional training, take us to the heart of the mostcontroversial questions raised by the creation of the IUFMs. The criticisms arepartly pedagogical, partly political. In their most extreme forms they were crys-tallised in an interview published in Le Point with Philippe Nemo, author of acontroversial book entitled Pourquoi ont-ils tue Jules Ferry? When asked what hewould recommend in the present situation he replied that the development of theIUFMs should be halted, that the training of secondary teachers should be returnedto the exclusive preserve of the universities and, most interestingly, that the reasonfor this was that such institutions are ''explicitement vouees a la transmission des savoirs'('specifically concerned with the transmission of knowledge'). The idea of a teacherbeing mainly concerned with the transmission of a body of knowledge is a verypowerful one in France. It is manifest in the tradition of the dazzling ex cathedralecture, in the deep suspicion of the concept of child-centred education, andespecially in the belief that teachers should be concerned with their subjects and notwith their pupils' social or psychological problems or with their maturation outsidethe classroom in sporting, cultural or other activities. This nexus of ideas remainsdeeply rooted in the mentality of the critics of the IUFMs, even though, often, thearguments advanced against the changes are more subtly expressed.
We must first be clear about terms. In diis discussion 'subject training' refers tothe subjects which are to be taught at primary and secondary levels: there ispolyvalence (i.e. multiple subjects) at primary level in France while mono-disciplinarite(single subjects) is the norm at secondary level with only occasionally two subjects
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taught jointly, such as history and geography. The umbrella term is formationdisciplinaire. This contrasts with formation professionnelle which means roughly, 'pro-fessional training', but which is formally broken down into multiple componentelements.
(1) Formation didactique et pedagogique: which involves the study of teachingmethods applicable to subjects other than the teacher's own, as well asappropriate elements of psychology and philosophy.
(2) Formation generate: which involves a knowledge of the educational system, itsplace in society, personal skills training, understanding of children, group andpersonal management skills.
(3) Formation commune: which involves joint classes for primary and secondaryteachers to stress the need for all teachers to see each stage of education aspart of the child's whole education.
(4) Formation pratique: this involves (i) observation of teaching and participationin other teachers' classes in different types of establishment within thestudent's chosen level (ii) teaching practice, in which the student is personallyresponsible for teaching a number of classes throughout the year (not a fulltime-table however) although with support from designated tutors.
ARGUMENTS FOR AND AGAINST MORE PROFESSIONAL TRAINING
Precisely why have the recent reforms, and particularly the additional stress onprofessional training, stirred up such a hornet's nest? Under the former scheme ofinitial training, the fact that there was a substantial dosage of professional trainingfor primary teachers was not a matter of great contention. Even though in thetraining of secondary teachers about one-third of the single year of training wasdevoted to CPR-based theoretical work on subject methodology and general educa-tional theory no great outcry was raised against theoretical, professional training,although many would have argued that the essential part of the course was thetwo-thirds devoted to school-based teaching practice. Compared to the structure forprimary teachers, however, the 1-year CPR structure seems to have been based onthe assumption that the essential characteristic of a good secondary teacher wassubject knowledge: this was rigorously tested not only by the licence, but also by theCAPES, which preceded any professional training and contained no specific profes-sional element. Selection for the subsequent course depended exclusively onacademic achievement.
Now that prospective secondary school teachers following the IUFM route haveto take a two year professional training course, instead of 1 year; now that theCAPES or the appropriate concours, is taken at the end of the first year, after adosage of professional training, and contains within the examination structure anew, additional element based on professional skills, a hue and cry has begun whichfocuses essentially on the professional element of training.
Some facets of the criticism are based on an incorrect knowledge of the facts.Those who claim that primary and secondary teacher professional training pro-grammes are now identical, and that the emphasis in secondary has been switched
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from subject to professional studies are factually wrong. The common element, over2 years, is not planned to exceed 10% of the course and initial indications are thatit is sometimes less. As for the switch of emphasis, the facts are clear: previously, thelevel of subject competence for secondary teachers was based (a) on the licence (b)on the concours for CAPES (etc.), preparation for which might vary from closelystructured supervision to ad hoc personal study. Under the new system, the licencequalification remains the same and the concours still has to be passed; the differenceis that the concours is normally taken at the end of the first year in the IUFM and thefuture teacher follows a course within the IUFM which occupies approximatelythree-quarters of the time-table. The purpose of this course, as described, forexample, in the documentation of the IUFM at Lille, is to 'Maintenir et ameliorer sinecessaire la qualite de la formation aux epreuves des concours' (to maintain and ifnecessary to improve the quality of training in preparation for the tests in theconcours) most of which remain subject based. It is true that students who are notregistered at an IUFM may take the concours on the basis of private study if they sowish, but that was previously possible anyway. It is difficult to see how the newstructures can be said to be diluting the level of subject competence.
If there is not a clear case against the dilution of the element of subject training,how can we evaluate the vehemence of the criticism directed at the undoubtedincrease in professional training? In England and Wales the 'transmission of knowl-edge' argument, whether it manifests itself in the form of government ministers'interventions in the National Curriculum proposals or in press pronouncements bycertain commentators, is often more pragmatic than analytical. In France it may, inone sense, be connected with the teacher's status as a civil servant and the linkbetween salary and a fixed number of hours of work per week. Although it is not thewhole story, the number of hours of work per week comprises mostly the number ofhours spent teaching one's subject: other activities, such as planning meetings withother teachers, represent only a fraction of the total. The total number of hours doesnot involve making a contribution to the corporate life of the school, understood ina wider sense than that of 'teaching one's own subject' or in the sense of contributingto the total development of pupils by pastoral care or in sporting or culturalactivities. Although it is true that in recent years there has been some modificationof the notion that French teachers spend time solely on teaching (including prepara-tion and marking, of course) and has none of the administrative, pastoral andextracurricular dimensions which are, in some other countries, considered to be anormal part of a teacher's duties, it remains the case that the centrality of theteaching function is jealously guarded. Some see the renewed emphasis on profes-sional training in the current reforms as impinging on the freedom of the individualto teach according to his or her own style and broadening the role of the teacherbeyond the essential function of transmitting knowledge.
Another aspect of the polarisation of la transmission des savoirs argument and thewider implications of professional training is rooted in the teaching hierarchy and thehistorical division between primary and secondary education which we have alreadytouched on. The level of salary in the French teaching profession is, or was, ininverse proportion to the level of academic qualifications and the number of hours
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of work per week. The former instituteur had the lowest minimum qualifications(DEUG), the highest number of hours (27) per week and the lowest pay scale. Atthe other end of the range is the agrege [2] (who has even higher academicqualifications than the professeur certifie), who has the lowest number of hours perweek (15 compared with 18 for the professeur certifie) and the highest pay scale. Theinstituteur had always been thought to need the longest period of professionaltraining, both practical and theoretical, whereas the latter's qualifications wereentirely academic and the period of practical training was very much shorter. Theinstituteur not only had, obviously, to teach more than one subject, but also had tocope with the whole of the ability range: extra subject and professional training forsuch teachers was, therefore, thought necessary, especially as they had lower aca-demic qualifications and, in any case, they had to cope with many who were poorlymotivated and had learning difficulties. The agrege, on the other hand, might arguethat his or her responsibility was to the subject; this might mean that the favouredmethod of instruction was the brilliant cours magistral directed at a homogeneous,academically motivated elite. If the class could not cope that was their problem. Ifthe agrege was concerned about the presentation of his subject, as well as its content,he would hardly be likely to seek help in the form of professional training fromteachers whom he considered less clever or at least engaged in a dubious, non-aca-demic discipline such as teacher training {la didactique).
Perhaps the need to cling to the limited notion of la transmission des savoirs is anattempt to escape from the 'thin end of the wedge' argument. To begin to questionhow one may best transmit knowledge may lead one initially merely to consider alimited number of different methods of presentation. One question, however, canlead to another: can presentation be seriously considered without raising fundamen-tal questions about objectives or wider ranging consideration of pupils' cognitivedevelopment? All this leads inevitably into the psychological, social and politicaldimension of education and can appear to be a time consuming, bottomless pit. Itis so much safer to limit the teacher's role to transmitting knowledge.
If one examines the arguments of those intellectuals in France who have mostfiercely opposed reforms, it is clear that pedagogical and political arguments areinextricably intertwined. Perhaps the most restrained attack on at least one aspect ofprofessional studies is the one which claims that 'la science de I'education' is a generalconcept which has no meaning, since each subject has its own specific, internalprocesses. More powerfully, some argue that those who profess to be experts in ladidactique are peddling a subject which is very approximate and imprecise, not to sayunscientific. Worse, les didacticiens, lacking solid research records and generallyspurned by most serious university researchers, are thought to have been handed thewhole area of teacher training on a plate for political reasons and are about totrivialise secondary education by modelling it on primary education in whichpedagogical considerations are deemed to be more important than content.
Those who take this view reject the argument that, given the enormous increasein the percentage of pupils in secondary education, it is no longer feasible tocontinue with teaching methods which might have been appropriate for a homoge-neous, cultural minority. Their first objection is that education must be
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distinguished from vocational training: they fear a shift from what they claim are thetrue educational values (evaluation, analysis, mastery of the spoken and writtenword, and so on) towards the more practical skills required to hold down a job inan office or factory. The polarisation is surely a simplification and there is nothingin the IUFM's programmes which excludes a proper balance. The second objection,more radical and somewhat contradictory in relation to the first, is that primaryeducation, being essentially for the majority, is naturally based on the concrete andthe utilitarian, rather than the abstract, which is the key to secondary education. Inthe past, they argue, it was possible for a minority of the age group to profit from astudy of abstract subjects. The desire to democratise education, to enable an everincreasing percentage of an age group to proceed to secondary education in itstraditional form has failed or, at the least, has run into enormous difficulties. Theperceived purpose of the reforms is thus not principally to equip teachers to performtheir traditional roles more effectively, but rather to transform the profession and theeducational system, so that the majority may pass through it successfully, whichmeans, it is argued, diluting secondary education (if not actually destroying it) sothat it becomes an extension of primary education and accessible to the majority.The pedagogical argument moves into the political arena.
In political terms the reforms are seen by some as the culmination of the attackby the left on the cultural values of the right. It is claimed that socialist educational-ists, particularly the left wing Syndicat National des Instituteurs, seek to undermine theeducational levels traditionally associated with la bourgeoisie. The reforms in teachertraining, along with other current proposals to change the course contents andstructures in secondary education, as well as the nature of the baccalaureat, are partand parcel of a long-term political process. Educational failure {echec scolaire) at thesecondary level, which is frequently in the newspaper headlines, is perceived bysome as the inevitable result of the democratisation. Critics of current reformsaccuse those who believe in this process of having concluded that the only solutionis to abandon the traditional curriculum based on abstract thought and to transformit into a more vocationally-orientated, practical, concrete area of study so that morepeople can cope with it
CONCLUSION
The changes in initial teacher training in France have multiple causes: historical andcurrent, political and practical as well as pedagogical. They attempt to removehistorical divisions by unifying the teaching profession so that it has a coherentpattern of entry-qualifications and training for all levels of teachers. The new Institutsde formation des maitres have been created as prestigious, university level institutionsto increase the length and breadth of profession training. Their purpose is to raiseboth the levels of competence and the status of teachers as well as to address theproblems of salary and recruitment so that the levels of achievement of the majorityof pupils up to the age of 18 match the needs of a changing society.
Seen in the European context, France is giving a lead in raising to degree levelthe preconditions of entry to teacher training for both primary and secondary levels;
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the same is true of the increase in length and the upgrading of the status and qualityof professional training. Those who oppose the changes do so for ideological andpolitical as well as for educational reasons. The questions which underlie the heateddebate stem from a consideration of the fundamental nature and objectives ofeducation and, hence, the role of the teacher. Is the democratisation of educationdesirable if this fudges the distinction between the vocational and the academic? Isthe teacher more than a transmitter of knowledge? How does one balance the claimsfor subject versus professional training? The French socialist government took aclear position on some key questions which are undoubtedly on the agenda of manyother countries not only in Europe, but internationally.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The author wishes to thank John Trafford, Director of Initial Teacher Education,Division of Education at the University of Sheffield, for his help in the compositionof this article.
NOTES
[1] There are some exceptions to this. For example, mothers with three children; candidates forthe CAPET and CAPLP2 with 5 years professional experience.
[2] An agrégé is a person who has passed a fiercely competitive concours called the agrégation. Itis based on academic attainment and not on teaching competence. It is a highly prestigious'teaching' qualification which is indicative of the weighting traditionally accorded to subjectknowledge as opposed to teaching skills.
REFERENCES
ARCHER, E.G. & PECK, B.T. (undated) The Teaching Profession in Europe (Jordanhill College ofEducation, Glasgow).
BANCEL, D. (1989) Créer une nouvelle dynamique de la formation des maitres.BOUVIER, A. & CORNU, B. (1991) La Réforme de la formation des enseignants en France, paper
presented at Séminaire ATEE (Association for Teacher Education in Europe) à l'Universitéd'Anvers, 3-5 July, 1991.
BULLETIN OFFICIEL DU MINISTÈRE DE L'EDUCATION NATIONALE (1989) Loi d'orientation sur
l'Education, Numéro 4, 31 August 1989, p.8, article 17.Cahier de documents de référence, No. 1, September 1991, IUFM de l'Académíe de Lille.COUNCIL OF EUROPE (1987) Standing Conference of European Ministers of Education, Teacher
Training Systems in the Member States.GILROY, D.P. (1992) The political rape of initial teacher training in England and Wales: a JET
rebuttal, Journal of Education for Teaching, 18,NEMO, P. (1991) On liquide les profs, Le Point, 995, 12 October.
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