I’ve been working in the public French education system for about 4 months now as an English assistant. This experience has been really eyeopening and everyday, I continuously notice the cultural differences between my students and myself. Growing up from a Canadian education system, there are definitely some cultural shock I’ve been experiencing while watching and observing how my students learn in France.

Here are the things I’ve learned about the French Education system:

1. Liberal Arts Education: My students are interested in history, politics, languages and philosophy. Beyond their classes they have in history, geography and philosophy, which I believe are quite mandatory, they also learn about other countries in English class. The last few months I’ve seen my students learn about protesting (yes, right of speech and protesting is a big thing in France), the American Dream, gun rights in America, India, Shakespeare books and even the notion of Progress in society. In addition, they have to learn 3 languages before graduating from high school (and they do get a big National exam on this). They learn French, English and a choice between German or Spanish. If they choose to take on a 4th language, my school have choices for Mandarin, Arabic and even Italian. In other words, they are equipped with one maternal language, and 2 foreign languages to encourage international relations with other countries in Europe.
2. Work Hard, Play Harder: This was one of the things I was most shocked about when I arrived - my timetable schedule. Students start school daily as early as 8am and can go until 6pm. Off course, it also depends on their schedule and they may or may not have many gaps in between. But for my high school, they have Wednesday half-day and for elementary, Wednesdays are off so it’s kinda nice for the middle of the week to have a break. On top, every 7 weeks of school grants them a 2 week vacation and a 2 month summer vacation. Talk about work hard, but play harder.
3. Access to Education: Education in France is cheap and accessible. Public universities are funded by the state and it can range from €150 to €700 per year (Wikipedia). In fact, many people get Masters degree as it grants them a better job and it is a joint 5 year program, which in total costs only €750 to €3,500 total for 5 years (Wikipedia). The lowest cost is equivalent to less than 1/5 of a yearly tuition in a Canadian funded university or about 1/2 the cost for the highest. The best part: if you are an international student, you can also obtain the same cost as long as you have the level of French required to study here. No wonder everyone does a Masters in France!

In general, I find students in France (or in my experience) are very open-minded, interested in traveling, learning about the world and being connected in a global world. They are certainly equipped well.

Everyone has a story.

This is mine.