The Reform of the “ Collège Unique ” (1973–1978)

Reflections on the Political Economy of Comprehensive Education

Bibliographic Data

ID21409660
AuthorsClémence Cardon-Quint (0000-0002-1736-3401, CRISES, EA 4424, Université Paul Valéry-Montpellier 3, Montpellier, France, corresponding author)
Year2024
Volume53
Issue6
Pages1000-1023
Publication date2024-11-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueHistory of Education (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0046-760X • E-ISSN: 1464-5130
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/0046760x.2024.2379052
OpenAlexW4402139249
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited28

In September 1977, all of France’s middle schools implemented the so-called “collège unique” reform in the seventh year, i.e. the elimination of tracking (or streaming) and the mixing of all pupils and teachers for the first year of secondary education. This article examines the genesis and implementation of this reform from the point of view of the budgetary issues it raised and which shaped it. Drawing on the political economy of education, the article sheds a new light on the introduction of comprehensive education, of which different variants can be observed in Western countries in the 1960s and 1970s. Indeed, far from being anecdotal, budgetary issues very concretely shaped the practical conditions of implementation of this educational reform, putting political and economic considerations ahead of any concern for pedagogical coherence

Coherence (philosophical gambling strategy) · Economic growth · Economics · Pedagogy · Point (geometry) · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Tracking (education) · French Historical and Cultural Studies · Historical and Political Studies · Historical Education Studies Worldwide · Law

Tools

Open DOI