Berkley Center

Obviously, a big part of study abroad is the actual studying part, but it is also one of the parts that I feel most people sort of take for granted as not being all that different from education in the States. Clearly all of us know going in that there will be some differences, but we still have that sensation that there can’'t really be too much of a divide between what we've experienced all our lives and what happens in our host country of choice. Class is what it's always been, homework is a constant, and tests may come in different shapes and sizes but have always been managed. How much different could it possibly get?

The one biggest difference that I have noticed between the French higher education system and the American one (and trust me, I could go on for days about the differences, so I'm really picking the highlights here) is the responsibility placed on the students to learn. I've come to realize that in the American system, there's a sense that many professors are constantly checking up on you to make sure that you're learning: endless homework, forced participation in class discussions, and several tests or papers throughout the semester. Not that there's anything wrong with this approach. On the contrary, being forced to constantly study and read books effectively forces learning upon the students at a steady pace. The students know how much they understand or know of the course material, and so do the professors. True, this varies; in some classes most of the emphasis is placed on the final paper or exam, and students in large lectures can slide by without participating during class if they don't want to.

One of the most interesting elements of the French university education system is that they truly do not babysit their students here. Everyone says in the United States that when you get to college teachers don't take care of you anymore and expect you to do your work on your own. Compared to the French system, this is a lie. All the assignments are beneficial to the students; it keeps them working throughout the semester so that everything doesn't turn into a major cram session at the end (though this happens often enough anyway). In France, most classes are lectures that have basically no participation from the students. Attendance is not taken. Homework is not assigned, and if reading lists are given they are huge bibliographies off of which the professors expect the students to find and read the five most important books… themselves. If students want to review throughout the semester, they can. But there is nothing forcing them to do it, such as periodic tests or papers, as in the American system.

Truly, the level of learning is left up to the student. If the student wants to do personal research outside of class, he or she can go through the bibliography, put in the extra effort, and really take the learning to another level. However, it is very easy for the student to slide by throughout most of the semester with barely working and/or going to class and then having a large cram session at the end, which may or may not result in actual learning. I have noticed this particularly in my Japanese class that I'm taking in France; the students really have to do a lot of their own work on the side if they want to really learn something.

Coming from the American system, I feel that my friends and I have had the problem that because we are not being forced to learn we think that there is not learning to do. After so many years of constant stress and work, we all had the initial impression that the French system does not teach its students as well as the American system. I now look at this difference in a new light: the French system truly wants its students to be independent, self-driven learners. In the American system, you are constantly whipped by outside forces to do the work needed to learn; in the French system, you must find the drive from within to better yourself through knowledge. And while at first I whined and complained that I did not see how this system could teach anyone anything, I now have a deep respect for French students. There truly is no babysitting here, and maybe that's something that throws a little bit more character building into the mix of college learning than Americans might get.