Qualifications in France: towards a national framework? [1]

Author: Bouder A.

Source: Journal of Education and Work, Volume 16, Number 3, SEPTEMBER 2003 , pp. 347-356(10)

Publisher: Routledge, part of the Taylor & Francis Group

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Abstract:

For the last ten years European and international debates about qualifications have focused on the design of frameworks. In France as in other continental European countries, principles for ordering and classifying qualifications were well established. The article details the lines along which the French system is organised. It attempts to emphasise the social-economic context of French classifications; it argues that they have at least two stable objectives. The first is to ensure their effective use by establishing as direct a relationship as possible between the actual content of work and content of education and training curricula. The second objective has been to acknowledge and mirror the reality of social differentiation both in terms of job hierarchies and learning outcomes. Recent developments seem to want to draw back from these 'traditional' concerns. In doing so, they appear to come closer to the definition of a 'framework' as used in anglophone countries; this assumes that designing a framework of qualifications can be a neutral and objective operation.

Document Type: Research article

Affiliations: 1: CEREQ, 10 Place de la Joliette, BP 21321, F-13567 Marseille Cedex 02, France

Publication date: 2003-09-01

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