A Day in the French High School System
For another fieldwork Thursday, we spent the day at Lycée Jean Macé, a French public high school! This high school is a street away from my school’s campus and we eat lunch at this school everyday. This fieldwork was my first time out of the cafeteria and into the actual school! Here’s my experience went as a real French high schooler for the day:
Each American was paired with a French student at Jean Macé. I was paired with a student in “2nde” the equivlaent of a Freshman in the American school system. She also brought along three of her friends so the five of us headed to the first class which started bright and early at 8am. The first class was Italian History and Geography; they were taking a test so I just read my book. Since Italian was a special class the students had to apply for, it was a small group of around 14 students. The second class was math class at 9am. The teacher prepared a special class for this immersion day, so we played math games in French and English. This class had 32 people! After math class, the girls usually have French class but the teacher was not there that day, so we had free time. We went to the school library where I got to know the girls, they were super sweet and we instantly became friends. Then at 11:30am, it was lunch time! I was used to this part of the day because this is where I usually eat lunch on school days, but it was my first time not eating with fellow Americans. I enjoyed eating with my new French friends because I felt like a real student of the school, and we beat the long lunch line!
Our first class of the afternoon was Italian Language and Literature at 1pm, with the same small group of Italian learners. This class was two hours long with only a five minute break in between😱. Then we had English at 3pm, my specialty out of all of the day’s classes😏. With the same group of the math class with 32 students, we watched and analyzed an English video, but even in the language I fluently speak it was hard😭. From 4-5pm we had another free period and went back to the library. Then at 5pm was our last class of the day, politics! We compared and contrasted the French and American political parties, same people as the math and English class. At 6pm, the school day was over. 10 HOURS OF SCHOOL😩. I commend all of the French students for doing this five days a week for 10+ years😤.
I loved this fieldwork because it was SO different from your average day in an American school. Here are my observations from the day as well as some outside knowledge I learned about the French school system:
The school system is very rigorous for everyone, whether you are academically inclined or not; everyone goes through the same classes and process, all public schools have the same curriculum.
French schools are much more strict than American schools; no eating, drinking water, using phones in class, not even having them on the desks.
No technology! French students always use notebooks and are given homework and handouts on paper. There is no school site for online homework and no need to type anything, everything is handed to the teachers in person.
It’s not very common to have school sports teams/school clubs. The students have a required P.E. class but there is not much time for athletic teams after school since they finish so late.
There are very large class sizes; there are desks in every part of the classroom, from directly in front of the teacher to the very back of the room almost covering the door.
French students must choose their profession they would like to focus on for their career and future, then they take specific classes based on this profession along with their normal high school classes. This is one I find crazy because it’s like choosing your life path at 16 years old!
Le Bac. This could be it’s whole own post but to sum it up, Le Bac is an exam and qualification to attend university in France. It’s required for everyone and you will also be tested in the career path you chose in the beginning of high school.
The school hours! French students can have school for 10 hours! But there are free periods and a long lunch. But with the long days, every Wednesday is a half day where the students finish school at noon. Also, the French school system goes six weeks on with school, then always have a two week break.
What a day at Lycée Jean Macé. I found the day to be so fascinating shadowing the French student’s classes. I also gained new French friends who I’ve stayed in contact with! When comparing the French school system and the American school system, both have their benefits and their contrasts, but in my personal opinion, I think the French have it it harder, I still can’t get over finishing school when it’s dark out😮. This day was an experience I will never forget because it was so unique and so divergent from any school day I’ve experienced in my entire life. Now I have a new insight in education and how the education systems in different countries differ. For now, I will stick to the US system because wow the French system is hardcore!
