Deconcentration, decentralisation and autonomy of French schools (1981-2003) – From the revival of equal opportunities to network management

Abstract

Between 1981 and 2003 France has experienced a Copernican revolution in the concept of its educational policy, abandoning a concept where justice and effectiveness were based on the centralisation and even the standardisation of the educational system in favour of another based on taking into consideration local specificities and the autonomy of schools. The article analyses the implementation of this new framework which, without being rhetorical, is still strongly influenced by the old culture. It looks at both the strengths and the effects of the old culture, and as various indicators point to the growing inequality between schools, it also looks into whether or not this is a consequence of the new policy. The article also introduces a reflection on semantic change in which, at the beginning of the 1980s, the autonomy of schools was presented as a means for making more tangible the promise of equal opportunities as heralded by the welfare state. It compares this to the end of the 1990s where it appears as the foundation of a management based on the same methods which enabled capitalism to pull out of the 1973 crisis, namely decentralised units and a networking structure built on internationally recognised quality standards.