A US Educator's Overview of European Education Systems: Understanding the Background of International Students

copyright Randy Olson 2003

For many educators in US Colleges, the system of accumulating credits towards graduation is the only model they know.   Understanding variations on educational systems seldom goes beyond conversion of quarter to semester credits.   It is not until an educator has to work with an international student that they realize there are other educational models.   International transfer students may bring a quite different set of expectations into the classroom because their educational experiences may differ widely form US students.  

What we, as US educators consider a norm, may very likely be an oddity elsewhere.   I shall therefore take my cue for this paper from the late British educator and author, Edmund King.   In 1992 he pondered the implications of a new Europe, and a new European education.   His conclusion was that an integral part of everyone's education must be the "Tolerant acceptance of other's understandings".

Changes in the education system are occurring rapidly in continental Europe due to the European Union EU, its drive for the common currency, the Euro, and a push for degree portability.   The UK Britain likewise, struggles to modernize an age-old university system and integrate it with both the EU and US.   

Educators need to be aware of these systems, and their current state of flux.   It is inevitable that they will someday have to work with an international student.   The prerequisite tools that will assist that educator are a basic understanding of the differing educational systems.   In this paper I will examine the educational systems of the UK and EU countries, in particular France and Germany.

Following are excerpts from the report chapters - full text PDF available upon request

GENISUS OF EUROPEAN EDUCATION SYSTEMS: medieval to modern

Let me offer, as a starting point, the following premise as we begin to explore the genesis of the modern university model.   Up until 1800 CE "modern life" did not exist.   Through the term "modern life" I denote a level of support for the lifestyle of the majority of peoples.   Up until that time life was subsistence.   It was not until the coming of the Industrial Revolution that food stocks appeared in any level of abundance.   With the reliance on machinery to increase the level of human output, for the first time in history, an individual could produce more than they consumed on a practical and reliable basis.

The University as it existed from medieval times up through 1800 was a tool to preserve and pass on knowledge.   If we have accepted the view that up to this time the majority of human life was fraught with paradigms of mere subsistence, then this university model makes sense.   One's hold to life was, at best, tenuous and fleeting; the knowledge that existed must be passed on and spared the fate of being lost through human frailty...end excerpt from chapter 1

UK SYSTEM: societal perspective

To understand the UK's (United Kingdom: comprised of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland - also referred to as Britain) present educational system it is necessary to step back some 40 years and observe the political landscape that has shaped it.   Political life in the UK is dominated by two opposing political parties; Labour and the Conservatives.   Like dogmatic rivalry in the American political system, the British parties battle it out to become chief protagonist.   Over the past 40 years education has become a highly visible political plum.

In the opinion of Tony Dickson, writing for the British journal, Economic Affairs , education may have stuck a Faustian bargain.   Where Faust sold his soul to the devil, Dickson sees a similarly sinister pact between higher education and its wholehearted dependency on government provided funding that leverages intervention ...end excerpt from chapter 2

UK SYSTEM: an education of structured progression

Functionally, the British educational system is one of structured progression.   Education is compulsory from age five through sixteen.   The structure starts in year four of primary school when students are separated by their area of talent and interest.   High School runs from age 11 through 16.   In your fifth year of high school you "sit your exams".   Upon successful completion of the examinations a student earns a General Certificate of Secondary Education - GCSE.   This is roughly equivalent to the American High School Diploma.   In today's competitive job market this level of education must be supplemented through Further Education, also referred to as simply FE ...end excerpt from chapter 3

GERMAN SYSTEM: an individual's solitary quest for knowledge

Similarities to the British system end with the German dictate of compulsory schooling through age sixteen.   If the British system is a structured progression, then the German system is best described as a maze...end excerpt from chapter 4

FRENCH SYSTEM : high value certification

The high value that the French place on education starts, in many cases, at the age of three.   In a 1995 survey by the French government it was determined that well over 90 percent of three year olds were enrolled in French Pre School, or Ecole Maternelle.   Much more than an American day-care, the Ecole Maternelle is staffed by professional teachers who follow a 26 hour per week curriculum.   This prescribed study has an intensive focus on French language skills...end excerpt from chapter 5

DISCUSSION - educational dysfunction to unity in diversity

In a 1999 article titled "The Future of European Universities," written for the journal European Education , Bertrand Girod de l'ain identified four shortcomings of the present pedagogical systems in the UK, Germany and France.   These educational dysfunctions were diagnosed by Girod after he submitted a draft of his report to thirty European university officials in eight countries.   According to Girod there was near universal consensus that the following deficiencies plague all three systems:

• Fragmentation of curricula
• Inflation in the number of examinations
• Absence of visible objectives
• Insufficient individual work on the part of the student

CONCLUSION

I shall return to Edmund King's quote that encompasses the question of international education's future with his call for the "Tolerant acceptance of other's understandings".   Only through a clear perspective gained by an understanding of the unique situations that have formed these systems can we begin to understand them.

I further wish to stress the dynamics of the international educational system.   This report is only a transient snapshot of the intricate sub-systems that make up three educational systems.   International dynamics, driven by market reactions and national interest, will continue to shape international education.

The American system, a hybrid of the Oxbridge and Humboldt Models has mutated into something that scarcely can be recognized by either of its parent systems.   The American system of graded progression and accumulated credits is unique and in some respects an oddity.

Before passing judgment on other systems an American educator would do well to recognize that if we consider the total number of students that could be affected by any educational system, we are in the minority.   Great Britain and French colonial efforts throughout the world have left a legacy of educational systems that still more closely resemble their parent system than the American system...end excerpt from chapter 7