A Comparison of Regulation Policies in Education Systems in France and in Anglo-Saxon Countries.

Abstract

The autonomy of the schools increased in most educational systems for the last twenty years. So, educational systems had to implement regulation policies in order to orient the action of the agents towards the nation’s aims. While England and the United States implemented a regulation by results (incentives linked to school’s or teacher’s results), France relies on a regulation by process (incentives to implement ‘pedagogical forms’ which are supposed to be relevant). These two policies are described, then they are confronted with regard to their internal coherence and tensions, with in mind the question of the French model being a viable one, able to offer an option to the anglo-saxon model. The answer tends to be negative, even if it becomes clear that anglo-saxon countries import some elements of regulation by process in their own functioning.