Guidance Counseling on the French Education System at Lycée Rochambeau

1. Guidance Counseling on the French Education System at Lycée Rochambeau AF French Ed. Guidance Counseling

2. French Guidance Counseling is there • To LISTEN to students /their parents • To INFORM them • To ADVISE them • With one major goal : to help our students formulate and set up a professional career plan consistent with their profile and allowing them to be financially independent adults, motivated by their job. AF French Ed. Guidance Counseling

3. My tools • Individualized interviews upon request with students/their parents. Contact : ferey@rochambeau.org • Regular communication with their homeroom teacher (“Professeur principal”) • Folders by area of expertise available for consultation at the Guidance Office • References and magazines to borrow • Lycée Rochambeau website, orientation section (www.rochambeau.org) • Depending on availability, meeting with professionals to illustrate possible career paths. AF French Ed. Guidance Counseling

4. The Students’ role • A key role : Everything will be done for them but NOTHING can be done without them ! • The student is strongly invited to : • Get informed by  Meeting with the French Guidance Counselor  Reading the documents suggested  Talking about their project with their family, relationships, teachers • Actively attend the events proposed by the French Guidance Counseling department and invite their parents to participate when these events are open to them. A schedule will soon be posted on the website. You can already note that the Guidance Week will take place at the end of January, 2007 AF French Ed. Guidance Counseling

5. To conclude • The Guidance Counseling service is completely integrated to the curriculum at Lycée Rochambeau. • It contributes to helping the students build the following skills : • Capacity to self-assess themselves • Capacity to detect what motivates them • And as a result to decide what is good, risky, irrelevant for them. AF French Ed. Guidance Counseling

6. ANNEXES • 1. A chart introducing the French Higher Education System • 2. The Bachelor-Master-PhD reform • 3. A wide variety of training opportunities • 4. What are a Classe Préparatoire (CGPE) and a Grande École? • 5. the CGPEs, a French specificity worth exploring AF French Ed. Guidance Counseling

7. Annex 1 : General scheme AF French Ed. Guidance Counseling

8. Annex 2 : the LMD reform • A new organization of studies has been implemented throughout the European Union under the Bologna Process (1999), following an Anglo-American scheme: it is known in France as “the LMD reform”. In France it concerns both universities and Grandes Écoles (see Annex 4).  L means Licence (Bachelor). It is obtained at Bac + 3 years  M means Master. It is obtained at Bac + 5 years  D means Doctorat (PhD). It is obtained at Bac + 8 years (at least) The curriculum is now organized by semesters, with modules equivalent to credits ( ECTS = European Credit Transfer System). 1 semester = 30 ECT. L = 180 ECT/ M = + 120 ECT / D = + 180 ECT. • Context: Harmonization of Higher Education systems curricula at a European level and cooperation in terms of quality standards of diplomas. • Main Results :  Credits transferable from one university to the other, thus contributing to encourage European and International mobility for students, teachers and researchers.  Standardized levels and an emphasis on internationally recognized quality standards enabling a better marketability of European and French diplomas on the international job market. AF French Ed. Guidance Counseling

9. Annex 3 : A wide variety of training opportunities in France • Offering multiple objectives, admissibility criteria and studies organization fitting all kinds of students’ profiles and projects, at a competitive cost • Curricula putting strong emphasis on International marketability, both in Universities and Grandes Écoles (exchanges with foreign universities, double diplomas…) • A system often presented as bipolar : universities (would train future researchers)vs Grandes École (would train professionals as engineers, managers..) BUT :  Universities offer high quality standards curricula (Medicine, Law, Business, Engineering, Mathematics..)  University graduates can enter Grandes Écoles through specific admission process and Grandes Écoles students can study specific subjects at universities through partnerships agreements.  Grandes Écoles can deliver Ph.Ds. AF French Ed. Guidance Counseling

10. 4. What are a Classe Préparatoire (CGPE) and a Grande École ? At the end of high school (Lycée), students with the baccalauréat (the French school-leaving diploma) have two choices for their higher education. They may go to university (French universities have an open admission system) or they may apply for admission to a preparatory class (CGPE) where they prepare over two years for the competitive examination (concours) for admission to one of the Grandes Écoles (specialist academic institutions). This application is in itself already very selective : a full application contains grades over the 3 previous years, test results and sometimes teachers recommendations and a cover letter from the student. Only the best students are accepted in a preparatory class. Preparatory classes have no equivalent in any other educational system. During these two years, the intensity and variety of the subjects studied, the amount of knowledge and skills to be mastered, as well as the rhythm of examinations demand a high level of self-discipline, maturity and speed-capacity of learning from the students. As the preparatory class is focused on success in the competitive examination (which comprises written and oral skills examinations), the grading is very severe. Two years of preparatory class are fully acknowledged as university level education. Students who fail the competitive examination into a Grande École may continue their studies at university, entering directly into the 3rd year. Source : Michel Raimbault, Associate Dean, HEC Paris, 2006 AF French Ed. Guidance Counseling

11. Annex 5 : The CPGE, a French specificity worth exploring • Continuity with the education received at Lycée Rochambeau : located in Lycées the CGPEs aim at training adults able to think by themselves, be synthetic and present strong organizational skills through:  A very solid organization of classes including strong emphasis on preparing oral examinations, and studying methods  Committed and highly qualified teachers, generally in charge of one class only  Solidarity between students • Variety: several kinds of CGPEs ( 3 major fields with sub categories : Science, Literature, Economics & management) AF French Ed. Guidance Counseling