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Comparative perspectives on classroom practices and values
n° 50, April 2009

In many countries, schooling has recently become the subject of much questioning, and even of concern. It has never been so widely questioned. And yet in reality, perhaps, it has never been so little discussed.

It is as if a legitimate and essential discourse, albeit a dominant and standardising discourse on assessment, fuelled by international comparisons and the uses to which the results are put, makes it possible to avoid a more sensitive issue, namely what basic values each society transmits via its school system, and how these vary from one country to the next.

To identify these values, the Revue Internationale d'Éducation de Sèvres, in Issue No.50, turned to a panel of internationally renowned experts in the field of comparative education.

In their studies, based on the observation of everyday life in the classroom and in schools in several different countries, they show how, in England, China, Denmark, the United States, France, Italy and Russia, the teaching practices implemented are so deeply impregnated with the specific history and cultural values of the country that it takes a foreign observer to identify them clearly.

Here, comparing serves to provide an understanding of the subtle differences that exist between the different countries. This is in keeping with a relatively new tradition in the area of comparative research, which manages to go from the micro to the macro, from a precisely focused observation of life in the classroom to a clear analysis of national conceptions of learning.

In so doing, these articles highlight the complex interaction at play in the classroom between policy, institutional structure, culture, values and teaching practices, as demonstrated by the authors, including Robin Alexander, one of the leading authorities in this branch of comparative education, and author of the first article.

The work of the Centre International d'Études Pédagogiques (CIEP) is built around this same, crucial plurality of approaches, as can be seen in the seminars it organises on curriculum reform or teacher training, and in the expert appraisals it performs worldwide.

Abstracts

Introduction
Observing, comparing, understanding
Anne-Marie Bardi

On classroom talk and its uses
An international comparison
Robin Alexander
This article reassesses the role of classroom talk in children’s learning beyond being a simple teaching tool. It underlines how classroom talk is shaped and constrained by the pedagogic and cultural environment in which it is situated. A comparative study of primary education in five countries delineates versions of human relations and of teaching values which underpin pedagogic practice, student-teacher relations, attitudes to knowledge and the nature of classroom talk. Classroom talk varies according to its tone, meaning and where it leads. The informal, conversational type of exchanges observed in the United-States contrast with the more structured and cognitively demanding exchanges in Russia, which amount to more genuine dialogue.

Cultures and values in Chinese classrooms
Lixian Jin, Martin Cortazzi
This paper discusses some classroom practices of interaction in schools and universities in China, within the context of the wider education system. It presents an analysis of some key educational and cultural values which underlie these practices. To research the values behind these practices we have analysed students’ essays and questionnaire data and collected students’ metaphors for teachers and learning. From these data, we outline the values underlying students’ conceptions of “the teacher”, “the student” and “learning” in China.

Classroom life in Beauvais (France) and in Naples (Italy)
Filming for understanding: a visual anthropology
Teresa Mariano Longo, Thierry Roche
Visual anthropology, through filming in comparable classes at the end of primary school in France and in Italy, highlights significant differences relating to various aspects of schooling and teaching, e.g. the way schools look, how classrooms are organised, exchanges between teachers and students, their gestures and behaviour, the degree of recognition of personal feelings, dealing with mistakes. Based on the premise that children arrive at school from a family environment within which they have built a certain self-image, this study compares the French and Italian cultural specificities underlying the observed differences. This article combines the unmediated evocative power of the image with an analysis that points to French and Italian history and culture and reaffirms that pedagogy is clearly embedded in a cultural context.

The iceberg tip of cultural values
Classroom practice in English and French primary schools
Claire Planel
This article provides an illustration of the concept that pedagogy is a cultural product. It explores how observable classroom practices in English and French primary classrooms are underpinned by deeper cultural values. The findings are based on an analysis of the experience and observations of a small group of English and French teacher trainees on work placements in each other’s countries. The analysis of the trainees’ responses brings English and French cultural values to the surface and suggests how these interrelate. The cross cultural comparison sheds light on the meaning of pedagogy in the two countries as well as showing how pedagogy itself is defined by context.

Pupil experience in England and France
Marilyn Osborn
The article draws upon a series of international comparative research projects to compare classroom practice and pupil experience in English and French primary and secondary schools. In doing so it demonstrates how both policy and classroom practice are rooted in a particular cultural context and are related to wider educational and societal values in the two countries. For example, in French classrooms pupils are expected to strive to achieve a common level of attainment, and this achievement is seen as reflecting the amount of effort they are prepared to exert. In contrast, in England pupils are still expected to reach widely varying levels of attainment which government policy sees as reflecting their innate ability. Values in the classroom reflect a wider cultural emphasis on universal egalitarian values in France, compared with individualistic values in England, reflected in a belief in differentiating teaching to the ‘needs’ of the particular child.

Danish values, foundations of the Folkeskole
Elizabeth McNess
This article presents the continuing underlying values which continue to permeate current educational policy and the structure and organisation of the Danish Folkeskole. Values of democracy, consensus and co-operation, and the prime importance placed on good communication and the social and affective side of learning are illustrated in the pivotal role of the klasseloerer, the teacher responsible for the class. Alongside her long-range educational and pastoral aim, she plays a longterm role as a counsellor, encouraging maximum contact between the family and the school.

Social factors in student achievement motivation
Comparison across England, the United States, Russia
Julian G. Elliott
This paper considers some social factors that appear to underpin high levels of academic motivation and engagement. In comparing students from three very different cultural settings in England, the US and Russia, the paper highlights differences in the perceived purpose and value of education in each context, and the influence, both negative and positive, of peers in relation to educational striving and achievement. The paper concludes by noting that Russian students appear to be adopting more Western perspectives in respect of some of the themes identified and discussed.

Bibliographic references
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