The Foreign Service Journal, December 2003

S CHOOLS S UPPLEMENT gent and single-mindedly determined to impart a well-defined body of knowledge, in contrast to the more flexible U.S. approach. While once famously Francocentric, lycees are now much less so. The terminal year history/economics course, for exam- ple, now uses case studies based on the U.S. as well as such regional pow- ers as China, Brazil, India and Nigeria. Lycees also leave little lee- way for class-time exchanges of opin- ion, preferring to concentrate on giv- ing pupils a solid mastery of facts, which is frequently and thoroughly tested. As a result, our kids know which French king quipped that “Paris is worth a Mass,” but are less sure who chopped down the cherry tree. Ambitious American kids, being bilin- gual, can address this gap by complet- ing British/U.S. history and literature as an International Option, but of course, that means increasing their already daunting workload. Finally, grades are based on a 20- point scale, not 100. No teacher ever gives higher than 16, and rarely high- er than 14, so even the best and brightest, destined for prestigious Grandes Ecoles, have 15 averages — which translates into a deceptively low 75 on the more familiar 0-100 scale. The Money Maze Dealing with sometimes inflexible French bureaucrats has at least one advantage: it is good preparation for seeking reimbursement from our own 78 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / D E C E M B E R 2 0 0 3 Continued from page 77 Continued on page 80 We worried at first that we would have to choose posts based on the availability of a lycee, but happily that has not been an issue.