Publish at October 27 2019 Updated January 26 2023
Among all the questions facing the educational community, one of the most important concerns the purpose of the training. For some, the school has a more utilitarian approach, the idea being to train future workers in various fields. Others see it as a laboratory for preparing future citizens. This necessarily includes skills that will serve in professional settings but also knowledge that will only enrich them humanly.
Or, it seems that the school system is moving away from this path. Many regret a disappearance of general culture in the educational system, from primary to post-secondary studies. A disparity that contributes to inequalities among learners.
This article from Le Monde does a good job of telling the story of a student from a middle-class home who didn't discuss literature, history, or film. Always a good student, she managed to go to literary prep school and immediately experienced a shock: many of her classmates had much more general culture than she did and, as a result, knew how to express their ideas better.
.Besides, this text prompted this column published in Marianne by a teacher and essayist who denounces this leveling down of the French educational system. He finds himself faced with students who are almost incapable of naming elements of general culture whether it be on Greco-Roman mythology, the arts or history. Yet these are technically included in the programs. But they are rarely transmitted. For him, the school has given itself the mission of transmitting skills, of "learning to learn," but without going to share the cultural heritage.
Consequently, for the participants in this France Culture program, this contributes to an inequality between students. Those whose parents have instilled more cultural elements do better in school. Thus, with schools transmitting less general culture, a segment of learners finds itself in a knowledge deficit. And this situation does not only occur in France. In early 2019, the Quebec doctor of philosophy and education who taught at the college level published a book on the need for general culture in this post-secondary field. Florian Péloquin regrets that Quebec's pedagogical renewal has relied more on skills than knowledge.
The question indeed arises for many. After all, the school program is already busy enough, why integrate additional knowledge? Especially since today, culture seems to be based on national identity rather than on the ideal of the 17th century, that of the honest man. Namely, a person who is neither uncultured nor pedantic with knowledge. Montaigne said moreover that it was better to have a "well-made head than a full one." Thus, his principle of cultivation in children was to let them brush up on the subjects that interest them and to take them on a journey through the world so that they become sensitive and open-minded people.
In an age of hyper-specialization, general culture represents a bridge between individuals. It can be a way to break the ice, to spark curiosity, to move away from superficial conversations to more concrete exchanges. For Peloquin, general culture is an existential compass. By acquiring diverse knowledge, people will have a more developed sense of judgment since it can be based on correct analogies. For him, college programs should all instill knowledge from the humanities and natural sciences.
So it remains to be seen whether the educational community will embrace the transmission of this "optional" knowledge more. Teachers already often lament busy curricula and limited time. In today's more utilitarian school environment, this seems difficult. Yet, if the educational vision were to change to a more civic-minded one, it would be possible to see general culture re-emerge.
Illustration: Glen Noble on Unsplash
References
Brighelli, Jean-Paul. "The Extinction Of General Culture." Marianne. Last updated: May 31, 2019.
https://www.marianne.net/debattons/billets/l-extinction-de-la-culture-generale
Cornellier, Louis. "Le Temps De Se Cultiver." The Duty. Last updated January 12, 2019.
https://www.ledevoir.com/opinion/chroniques/545286/le-temps-de-se-cultiver
Dutriaux, Cécile. "What Is General Culture For In 2019?" The Conversation. Last updated June 6, 2019.
https://theconversation.com/a-quoi-sert-la-culture-generale-en-2019-117135
"The Inequality Factory: Evolutions, Contradictions, Paradoxes (1/10): Culture And School Inequalities." France Culture. Last updated: November 25, 2018.
https://www.franceculture.fr/emissions/etre-et-savoir/culture-et-inegalites-scolaires
"Montaigne: Give them A General Culture." MyParenthesis. Last updated: November 14, 2013.
https://www.myparenthese.fr/vie-quotidienne/art-de-vivre-culture/2011/08/montaigne-donnez-leur-une-culture-generale/
Prioleau, Elise. "In Defense Of General Culture In Education." College Network Portal. Last updated March 17, 2019.
http://lescegeps.com/pedagogie/apprentissage_et_reussite_scolaire/a_la_defense_de_la_culture_generale_en_education
Raybaud, Alice. "I Didn't Know Anything, It Was Humiliating": The Great Malaise Of General Culture." Le Monde.fr. Last updated: May 22, 2019.
https://www.lemonde.fr/campus/article/2019/05/22/je-ne-connaissais-rien-c-etait-humiliant-le-grand-malaise-de-la-culture-generale_5465256_4401467.html
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