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Foreign Education Systems

Patrick Bernier
Robert Hewitt
Michael Lasseter

Iwate JET 2004 Mid-Year ALT/JTL Conference
2004/11/17 15:40-16:30
Hanamaki Onsen - Hotel Senshukaku

The Presentation

The actual "Foreign Education Systems" presentation was given on the first day of the 2004 Mid-Year ALT/JTL Conference. We were in for a treat: our room was virtually filled to capacity, with close to 150 attendees.

Given the fact that it was rather impossible to give a set of lectures offering a detailed description of the respective education systems of our three countries in 50 minutes, a different approach was needed.

Mr. Hewitt prepared a handout graphically outlining the different study paths available to students in each of our countries. The amount of options available is fascinating! If we had attempted to describe them in detail on our handouts, we would have run out of paper (and, most likely, time...)

Thus, we decided to post detailed reference information on the Internet (here! see below....) and to turn the presentation itself into a quiz game where the participants, split into three teams, would try to answer questions about our education systems. The answers were then explained and commented on by the three presenters.

It would seem that this formula was successful. A quick survey of the room during the game revealed a single JTE sleeping, with everybody else apparently paying attention to the presentation (or faking very well!)

Reference Information

Québec

The authoritative source of information regarding education in Québec is the provincial Ministère de l'Éducation. The following documents were published on their website.

• Education in Québec - An Overview [1.2M PDF]
  A 12-page backgrounder on education in Québec.
• Québec Education Program, Preschool and Elementary Education [11.4M PDF]
  An outstanding 355-page document describing in detail the current education regime for preschool and elementary.
• The Québec Education Program - Preschool and Elementary Education - Summary Table [584k PDF]
  A nice poster summarizing the components of the 2001 education program for preschool and elementary.
• Preschool Education - Information for Parents [1M PDF]
  An 18-page marketing-style flyer describing the core values of the new Education Program and how they relate to Preschool Education.
• Elementary Cycle One - Information for Parents [2.3M PDF]
  An 50-page style booklet explaining the new Education Program for the first two years of Elementary school.
• Elementary Cycle Two - Information for Parents [2.3M PDF]
  An 50-page style booklet explaining the new Education Program for the third and fourth years of Elementary school.
• Elementary Cycle Three - Information for Parents [2.3M PDF]
  An 50-page style booklet explaining the new Education Program for the last two years of Elementary school.
• Québec Education Program, Secondary Cycle One [14.8M PDF]
  An outstanding 517-page document describing in detail the new education regime for the first cycle of Secondary school.
• Québec Education Program - Secondary Cycle One - Introduction [112k PDF]
  A 20-page backgrounder introducing the various features of the upcoming Education Program for the first cycle of Scondary school.

United Kingdom

Since 1988, schools in the UK serving children from 5 to 16 years old (compulsory education) follow the teaching guidelines of the National Curriculum. The following booklets describing each of the core subjects were published on the National Curriculum website.

• Art and design [2M PDF]
• Citizenship [432k PDF]
• Design and technology [708k PDF]
• English [2M PDF]
• Geography [3.9M PDF]
• History [788k PDF]
• Information and communication technology [752k PDF]
• Modern foreign languages [1.8M PDF]
• Mathematics [972k PDF]
• Music [1.7M PDF]
• Science [1M PDF]

United States of America

Information about the currently evolving American education system can be found at U.S. Department of Education website, which was the source of the following documents:

• No Child Left Behind: A Desktop Reference [804k PDF]
  A 181-page detailed description of the NCLB act. Unlike the act itself, this document is actually readable.
• No Child Left Behind: Executive Summary [16k PDF]
  A 4-page executive summary of the NCLB act.
• A Guide to Education and No Child Left Behind [328k PDF]
  A flyer which sounds awfully political (read: propaganda), but does feature some interesting numbers.
• Public Law print of PL 107-110, the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 [1.8M PDF]
  The full legal text of the NCLB act. Probably virtually unreadeable unless you know what you are looking for (or have a lot of patience...)