’Plus ça change . . .’?: present French and English educational policies

Abstract

This paper treats past and present theories that underpin English and French educational policies, highlights their similar goals, particularly the ‘need’ for ‘technologization’ and modernization, and compares and contrasts the means proposed to achieve them, as well as the pace of change envisaged. The last socialist education minister in France, Jean‐Pierre Chevenement, and his successor in the new right‐wing government, Rene Monoury, both appear more expansionist in their intentions than does the present English administration. In the one country the thrust is towards a massive increase in the technically‐qualified; in the other, the measures proposed are more timorous and Malthusian, particularly in higher education, and the accent is on value‐for‐money. However, past experience on both sides of the Channel shows that educational blueprints have often been abandoned or modified by the decision‐makers: in both countries the gap between intentions and reality is often wide.