The problems of the French schools system summed up in one Twitter thread
In a Twitter thread author and expert on the French schools system Peter Gumbel gives his view on striking French teachers, the desperate need for major reforms and reveals underlying problems of education in France.
Thousands of students across France were forced to wait to receive the final results of their baccalaureat exams recently after hundreds of teachers, whose job it was to mark the papers, staged a strike in protest against reforms brought in by the education minister Jean-Michel Blanquer.
Blanquer slammed the strike and threatened to dock the pay of "teachers who have decided to play this game, which completely goes against the principles of public service".
President Macron likened it to "hostage-taking".
Former journalist Peter Gumbel an expert on the French education system who has published several books highlighting the problems in France took to Twitter to give his view of the subject and spell out some of the main problems in the French education system.
Gumbel, who wrote an article for The Local on how France must "fix its failing school system" was firmly against the striking teachers and in favour of much needed reforms to the schools system.
A thread about the recent refusal by a minority of teachers in France to mark baccalauréat papers 1/16 #baccalaureat2019 @jmblanquer @louisetourret @mariestellpech @matteabattaglia @mcmissir @CharbonnierEDU
— Peter Gumbel (@petergumbel) July 9, 2019
Successful #school reforms anywhere require a broad political consensus. This is sorely lacking in France, where successive governments have zig-zagged, often incoherently 2/16
— Peter Gumbel (@petergumbel) July 9, 2019
Changes introduced over the past 30 years have often been half-baked and have failed to raise overall pupil performance beyond mediocre, tracking the #PISA average 3/16
— Peter Gumbel (@petergumbel) July 9, 2019
Worse, France now has the most unequal school system in Western Europe based on student outcomes and socioeconomic status. This in a country where the word “#égalité” is engraved on school buildings 4/16
— Peter Gumbel (@petergumbel) July 9, 2019
The current education minister, @jmblanquer, has introduced a series of coherent reforms to address these issues, based on his long experience and an understanding of international best practice 5/16
— Peter Gumbel (@petergumbel) July 9, 2019
Changes include a major focus (and extra spending) on primary education so that kids master the basics, especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds most prone to failure 6/16
— Peter Gumbel (@petergumbel) July 9, 2019
His high school reforms are breaking the old closeted bac system of having to choose between science or arts. And continuous assessment is growing in importance 7/16
— Peter Gumbel (@petergumbel) July 9, 2019
I can see that not all teachers like his reforms. But refusing to mark baccalauréat papers to protest them is an #outrage 8/16
— Peter Gumbel (@petergumbel) July 9, 2019
It’s hard to overstate the bac’s importance in France; it’s THE key to the future for most kids. Disrupting it in any way is totally irresponsible and a betrayal of the #trust society places in teachers 9/16
— Peter Gumbel (@petergumbel) July 9, 2019
President @EmmanuelMacron added fuel to the flames by likening the action to hostage-taking. He’s not wrong 10/16
— Peter Gumbel (@petergumbel) July 9, 2019
One could actually build a case to dismiss all the teachers who participated in the bac strike. Their action amounts to a professional “faute grave” - gross #negligence 11/16
— Peter Gumbel (@petergumbel) July 9, 2019
They were a tiny minority but their action was highly disruptive. Those pupils whose papers were not marked were given a grade corresponding to their class performance. 12/16
— Peter Gumbel (@petergumbel) July 9, 2019
I feel sorry for the affected kids who worked hard for the exams and may have lifted their average- but will never know 13/16
— Peter Gumbel (@petergumbel) July 9, 2019
I doubt @jmblanquer will go as far as to #fire the striking teachers. But they should spend the summer thinking hard about whether they are in the right profession 14/16
— Peter Gumbel (@petergumbel) July 9, 2019
Treating the care of their pupils with such disdain flies in the face of any #ethical standard 15/16
— Peter Gumbel (@petergumbel) July 9, 2019
As for @jmblanquer, he could work harder to get teachers to accept his reforms as good for them, too, including by deploying their #professionalism. But he is absolutely right to take a hard line with the strikers 16/16
— Peter Gumbel (@petergumbel) July 9, 2019
Gumbel's views were by and large well received by other experienced writers on France.
An articulate thread on education travails (and Minister @jmblanquer's reform efforts) in France, by the English writer who knows these questions better than many French. https://t.co/qQBXDJDAqV
— Anne-Elisabeth Moutet #FWOAW?? (@moutet) July 9, 2019
Agree with most of this thread. A minority in the Fr teaching profession believes schools are created for teachers. They never want anything to change. But as I understand it the temporary grades given for papers not marked in time will be adjusted when the marking is complete. https://t.co/MC6CKr8K7h
— John Lichfield (@john_lichfield) July 9, 2019
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Thousands of students across France were forced to wait to receive the final results of their baccalaureat exams recently after hundreds of teachers, whose job it was to mark the papers, staged a strike in protest against reforms brought in by the education minister Jean-Michel Blanquer.
Blanquer slammed the strike and threatened to dock the pay of "teachers who have decided to play this game, which completely goes against the principles of public service".
President Macron likened it to "hostage-taking".
Former journalist Peter Gumbel an expert on the French education system who has published several books highlighting the problems in France took to Twitter to give his view of the subject and spell out some of the main problems in the French education system.
Gumbel, who wrote an article for The Local on how France must "fix its failing school system" was firmly against the striking teachers and in favour of much needed reforms to the schools system.
A thread about the recent refusal by a minority of teachers in France to mark baccalauréat papers 1/16 #baccalaureat2019 @jmblanquer @louisetourret @mariestellpech @matteabattaglia @mcmissir @CharbonnierEDU
— Peter Gumbel (@petergumbel) July 9, 2019
Successful #school reforms anywhere require a broad political consensus. This is sorely lacking in France, where successive governments have zig-zagged, often incoherently 2/16
— Peter Gumbel (@petergumbel) July 9, 2019
Changes introduced over the past 30 years have often been half-baked and have failed to raise overall pupil performance beyond mediocre, tracking the #PISA average 3/16
— Peter Gumbel (@petergumbel) July 9, 2019
Worse, France now has the most unequal school system in Western Europe based on student outcomes and socioeconomic status. This in a country where the word “#égalité” is engraved on school buildings 4/16
— Peter Gumbel (@petergumbel) July 9, 2019
The current education minister, @jmblanquer, has introduced a series of coherent reforms to address these issues, based on his long experience and an understanding of international best practice 5/16
— Peter Gumbel (@petergumbel) July 9, 2019
Changes include a major focus (and extra spending) on primary education so that kids master the basics, especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds most prone to failure 6/16
— Peter Gumbel (@petergumbel) July 9, 2019
His high school reforms are breaking the old closeted bac system of having to choose between science or arts. And continuous assessment is growing in importance 7/16
— Peter Gumbel (@petergumbel) July 9, 2019
I can see that not all teachers like his reforms. But refusing to mark baccalauréat papers to protest them is an #outrage 8/16
— Peter Gumbel (@petergumbel) July 9, 2019
It’s hard to overstate the bac’s importance in France; it’s THE key to the future for most kids. Disrupting it in any way is totally irresponsible and a betrayal of the #trust society places in teachers 9/16
— Peter Gumbel (@petergumbel) July 9, 2019
President @EmmanuelMacron added fuel to the flames by likening the action to hostage-taking. He’s not wrong 10/16
— Peter Gumbel (@petergumbel) July 9, 2019
One could actually build a case to dismiss all the teachers who participated in the bac strike. Their action amounts to a professional “faute grave” - gross #negligence 11/16
— Peter Gumbel (@petergumbel) July 9, 2019
They were a tiny minority but their action was highly disruptive. Those pupils whose papers were not marked were given a grade corresponding to their class performance. 12/16
— Peter Gumbel (@petergumbel) July 9, 2019
I feel sorry for the affected kids who worked hard for the exams and may have lifted their average- but will never know 13/16
— Peter Gumbel (@petergumbel) July 9, 2019
I doubt @jmblanquer will go as far as to #fire the striking teachers. But they should spend the summer thinking hard about whether they are in the right profession 14/16
— Peter Gumbel (@petergumbel) July 9, 2019
Treating the care of their pupils with such disdain flies in the face of any #ethical standard 15/16
— Peter Gumbel (@petergumbel) July 9, 2019
As for @jmblanquer, he could work harder to get teachers to accept his reforms as good for them, too, including by deploying their #professionalism. But he is absolutely right to take a hard line with the strikers 16/16
— Peter Gumbel (@petergumbel) July 9, 2019
Gumbel's views were by and large well received by other experienced writers on France.
An articulate thread on education travails (and Minister @jmblanquer's reform efforts) in France, by the English writer who knows these questions better than many French. https://t.co/qQBXDJDAqV
— Anne-Elisabeth Moutet #FWOAW?? (@moutet) July 9, 2019
Agree with most of this thread. A minority in the Fr teaching profession believes schools are created for teachers. They never want anything to change. But as I understand it the temporary grades given for papers not marked in time will be adjusted when the marking is complete. https://t.co/MC6CKr8K7h
— John Lichfield (@john_lichfield) July 9, 2019
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