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THE PROFESSIONALS OF ADULT AND CONTINUING EDUCATION IN
FRANCE
Institution:
Université de La Rochelle, France
Contact: Pierre Freynet
The context of adult and
continuing education in France
France has a long and rich tradition of adult education,
especially in relation to what is referred to as “Education populaire”
(community education). This community education was very widespread from
the end of the 19th century to the 1960’s. It covered a number of
fields, and its main concerns were citizenship, cultural and artistic
education, as well as sport. It was mainly run by volunteer
organisations, often linked to political organisations. Its members
generally called themselves activists (“militants”) rather than
professionals.
Gradually, mainly for reasons related to the
economic situation in France after World War II, the concern shifted
from general adult education towards vocational training. The turning
point was the 1971 Law (after the 1968 events) on “Formation
professionnelle continue dans le cadre de l’Education Permanente”
(Continuing vocational training within the framework of Lifelong
Learning).The 1971 Law specified that the companies had to pay a tax for
the training of their employees. But the power of decision was in the
hands of the employers.
Then, at the beginning of the 70’s, adult
education split in two main branches:
. social and cultural education (“animation socio-culturelle”),
where professionals replaced the volunteers of community education,:
this sector now had its own qualifications and diplomas, linked to the
Department of “Jeunesse et Sports” (Youth and Sport);
. continuing vocational training, focussed on employment
and the market place.
In the middle of the sixties, after the
economic crisis and the increase of unemployment, a third sector
appeared: vocational integration and social inclusion. This third sector
is less formalized, and is still in construction.
Nowadays, we can then distinguish three main sectors of
ACE in France :
Vocational
training (formation professionnelle continue)
Cultural
activities and general adult education (animation socio-culturelle)
Social and
vocational integration (insertion sociale et professionnelle)
There have been on-going changes since 1971.
With the new 2004 law, the French model has become even more
complicated., The Regions and professional sectors have gained more
influence.
The concept of Lifelong Learning has not really developed
in France. The title of the new 2004 Law is “formation professionnelle
tout au long de la vie” (Lifelong vocational training), but in fact
initial and continuing training are totally separated: while initial
education and training are completely centralised and controlled by the
department of education, continuing training is completely dispersed
between Regions, professional sectors, social partners, companies,
providers...
.In fact, the French system is very focussed on vocational
training. All the official data about adult education relate to
continuing vocational training. This system is:
. very fragmented;
. market oriented;
. very technical (training engineering; standards; quality
management, etc...
In 2003, the total budget of continuing vocational
training was 22,9 Mds €. The companies spent 9,3 Mds €. 3,5 M employees
(35%) attended a training programme. These programmes are organized
during the working-time and are genarally short (less than 40 hours).
The training providers
There are in France more than 9000 training
providers (public or private), whose training is the main activity and
45 000 whose activity is only partly training. Among those whose
training is the main activity,
30% are associations;
31% are individuals
The professionals of ACE in
France
How many are they?
The estimated number of full-time professionals is
120 000, but if we include all the people involved (eg. part-time
trainers and teachers), more than one million people are concerned;
The number of professionals has increased of 50% in 10
years;
According to a recent survey (2005) they will be 90 000
more in 2015;
Who are
they?
The main characteristic of this sector is a very
important lack of job security.
There is no specific legislation for the professionals of
ACE, but a collective agreement for employees of ACE providers.
In France, many professional typologies have been
designed, but generally two main profiles can be distinguished:
. trainers (and related professions);
. training manager.
As far as activities are concerned, we can distinguish:
. the very heart of activities: teaching,
training engineering, competencies management, etc...
. the peripheric activities: information,
guidance, counselling, accompaniment, APEL, etc...
Training opportunities for professionals of ACE
Very few professionals had a first education in ACE. Most
of them began to work and learned on the job. Many decide to apply for
training after several years of practice.
Training of trainers is also a market in France. More
than 2000 public or private training providers offer trainig of trainers
programmes.
One can find:
. training programmes in ACE leading to a
national diploma;
. qualifying programmes without diploma;
. short training programmes on specific
subjects.
Many training providers have defined standards:
. activities standards;
. competencies standards;
. training standards;
. accreditation standards.
Most training programmes are much more focussed on the
training process than on the contents of training. These training
programmes can be classified according to six main categories[1]:
. educational methods;
. training management;
. block-release training and mentoring;
. multimedia;
. public with special needs;
. accompaniment: guidance, counselling,
professional integration, APEL, etc...
Training
engineering (Ingéniérie de formation)
It is the very heart of ACE activities and of training
programmes with two main concerns:
. taking into account the context of
training;
. optimizing the investment
The main activities of training engineering are:
. analyzing needs;
. designing the training programme;
. realizing the training programme;
. evaluating the training programme;
. organizing the feed-back of evaluation
New
trends, new stakes
A changing context:
. knowledge society and knowledge-based economy;
. lifelong and lifewide learning;
. ict and odl;
. changing economy: from work towards career
path;
. demographic changes;
. globalization;
. European dimension;
. decentralization of ACE policy
New challenges:
. a huge and complex demand: individualization,
accreditation of prior learning, adaptation to the work context,
flexibility, new technologies...
. a system at a standstill:
. stagnating funding;
. opacity of the funding process;
. increasing complexity;
. increasing access inequalities;
. short term efficiency: only 1% of
adult people prepare a diploma (13% in
Sweden).
Pierre Freynet, Université de La Rochelle, 29 avril 2007
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