The French educational system is very precise and challenging. Their methodology is characterized by a lack of teacher to student relationships and a commitment to traditional teaching methods, like pen and paper notes instead of laptops and strictly outlined dissertations. As an exchange student, it doesn’t take long to notice the differences in another country’s educational system, which perhaps allows me to make a clearer evaluation of its strengths and weaknesses.
When it comes to dissertations and presentations there is a specific guideline students must follow to receive full credit for their work. For Sciences Po, they advise us to follow a two-by-two outline for our dissertations, where in the introduction we state a problematique, or the problem we find in the research question, then respond to it with our thesis statement. Then each body paragraph must be a direct answer to the problem and supported with arguments in favor of the thesis. Then each of the sub-parts in the paragraph are supporting arguments for the answer to the thesis we offer in the main part it belongs to.
Finally, the conclusion must provide a summary of all the key supporting arguments in the essay and we must make rise of our opinion from these arguments. Presentations follow the same format, where the slides must state what the problem is in the research question followed by a thesis statement and so on.
Fellow exchange students and I have often discussed the rigorous rules surrounding the French educational system and how studying within it has been a learning curve. Some have even expressed ideas of it lacking creativity, for if assignments are not done exactly the way the teacher asks for, then students grades are heavily docked. Thinking back to the first week of orientation, the academic advisor who was assigned to my group blatantly told us not to expect a mark above an 18 on the 1-20 grading scale. The rarity of a student receiving a mark above an 18 and the reminder for students to not expect one is discouraging, and can be damaging towards how much effort students are willing to put into their work.
Despite these drawbacks there is no doubt students going through the French educational system are receiving a good education. From what I have learned in my French class is that there is a lot of plurality in the classes students are expected to take. In the International Affairs and strategy certificate program I am currently in, I was required to take a mix of classes in the sciences and humanities plus two French classes. Due to the diversity of the course options, and freedom within the certificate program, I unquestionably feel like I am receiving a well-rounded education adjusted towards my interests.