Throughout a country many schools differ in teaching methods. Lets take Britain for example. In parts of the country there are many different school systems. There are some people who may go to three or more different schools by the time they are sixteen, I myself have only been to two and presently attend a sixth form college at the second. However, even though some schools chose to specialise with different age groups, all follow the national curriculum. To compare British school systems would therefore be a short lived exercise because however different they may be, they are all relatively the same due to government input and training methods.

But from my own experiences of Europe I can compare the school systems through Britain, France and Italy.

Several years ago I visited French schools and updated this experience earlier this year. There are many similarities between the French and British system although 'le systeme français' is more intense. Students need to know which path they would like to take by the age of fourteen. The children are introduced to education at a vey early age, our equivalent to a play school but at a higher level. But they are given the chance to wind down. When the little ones get tired they have special rooms purposely built for a well deserved nap with a sufficient number of matresses. Then after that, they've got the play room with little bikes and toys. The name given here is l'école maternelle. The next step up is, l'école primaire (primary school), and it is a similar system to that of our own, although more money seems to be put into the French education, more computers seem to be available and the libraries are much better equipped. Next stop is 'le collège'(our secondary school) where they make their decisions on the direction in which their lives will be taking. After this there is le lycèe(our college) followed by l'université, which I think is self explanitory. However, the down side to this high budget education is the actual teaching method. Although there is no shortage of equipment there is a lack of discipline which is evident through behaviour, school rules and the wide variation of ability in any given class situation.

Now my recent experience of the Italian scene was one of great suprise. If one were to be asked, 'what is the difference between the Italian schools and our own', they would be very likely to answer,'what isn't different?' From the very first glance of an Italian school it is immediatly evident that there is major lack of money having input into the school. Another big difference is that the pupils don't go to the teachers, they remain in the same classroom and the teachers go to them. One might also think that no-one would ever listen in class because tha teachers get paid to deliver a lesson and that is all. There is no disciplinary attempts in the slightest, but there is generally one hundred per cent attention paid throghout the duration of the lesson because of the subtle but ever present threat of, 'If you don't listen, you won't pass your exams!' This is a method which could be long discussed in it's practicality and there are enough differences between the three cultures to keep many an interesting conversation going. However, even though I have often heard from influencial figures,'It's not better, it's just different', I know which one I prefer, what about you?

© 1998 Freeway
Writers: Iain Campbell, Bishop Heber High School (England)
HTML by: Daniel Rönström (nv00-100@park.se).