Wikipedia

École normale supérieure

For the higher institution located in Paris, seeÉcole normale supérieure (Paris).
For other uses, seeÉcole normale supérieure (disambiguation).

Anécole normale supérieure(French pronunciation:[ekɔlnɔʁmalsypeʁjœʁ]) orENS(in English: "Institute of Advanced Education"[1]) is a type of elitepublicly fundedhigher educationinstitution inFrance.A portion of the student body, admitted via a highly-selective competitive examination process, are Frenchcivil servantsand are known asnormaliens.ENSes also offer master's andPhDdegrees, and can be compared to "Institutes for Advanced Studies". They constitute the top level of research-training education in the French university system.

The history ofécoles normales supérieuresgoes back to 30 October 1794 (9brumairean III), whenÉcole normale de l'an IIIwas established during theFrench Revolution.[2]The school was subsequently reestablished aspensionnat normalfrom 1808 to 1822, before being recreated in 1826 and taking the name ofÉcole normalein 1830. When institutes for primary teachers training calledécoles normaleswere created in 1845, the wordsupérieure(meaning upper) was added to form the current name.

The Savary Law of 1984 restructured higher education in France and classifiedécoles normales supérieureswithin the category ofétablissements publics à caractère scientifique, culturel et professionnel.[3]

As of January 2014, there arefourexisting ENSes:

A twin institution has existed in Italy since its foundation by Napoleon Bonaparte, theScuola Normale SuperioreinPisa.

History

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Key decrees and laws on the upper part of the entrance ofÉcole Normale Supérieure,45 rue d'Ulm

After thesuppression of the Society of Jesusin France in 1762, a debate arose on how to replace their role in education. The idea of anécole normale,a place to train teachers for the secondary schools, is already mentioned in a report on education made in 1768 byRolland,president of theParlement of Paris.[4]

The firstécole normalewas established by theNational Conventionin a decree dated 30 October 1794.[2]Educated people from all parts of France were to be selected to attend the school and to subsequently return to found anécole normalein their department for the education of primary school teachers. Theécole normale de l'an IIIhad renowned teachers such asLaplace,Lagrange,andBertholletbut actually only functioned for four months, from 20 January 1795 to 19 May 1795 or in the then in useFrench Republican Calendarfrom 1er pluviose of year III until 30 floréal of year III.

In the decree of Napoleon of 17 March 1808, the institution was re-established aspensionnat normal.[2]The candidates most promising for administration and education roles were admitted through acompetitive examination.[5]The students could attend courses atCollège de France,Muséum d'histoire naturelleorÉcole polytechnique.[5]Atécole normale,they received support from tutors for revising, laboratory experiments and teaching the art of teaching.[5]

In 1880,Camille Séeestablished secondary education for girls. Subsequently, a law dated 29 July 1881 founded theÉcole normale supérieure de jeunes filleslocated inSèvres.

Jules Ferrygot a law passed on 9 August 1879 in order to force each department to establish and fund an institution to train primary school teachers for each gender (école normale de garçonsandécole normale de filles).[6]In order to train the teaching body of these schools, so-calledécoles normales supérieures de l’enseignement primairewere needed. A decree dated 13 July 1880 set up the one for young women inFontenay-aux-Roses,and later in March 1882 the male equivalent opened inSaint-Cloud.[6]

Starting in 1891, a section for teacher training namedsections normaleswas established in theÉcole des Arts et métiersofChâlons-sur-Marne(decree of 11 June 1891) and in theÉcole des Hautes Études Commerciales de Paris(decree of 21 July 1894). A decree published on 15 June 1899 organizedsections normalesfor women. Thesesections normaleswere grouped together in 1912 into a single school which was named "École normale supérieure de l'enseignement technique" in 1934.

Academic profile

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TheÉcole normale supérieureare a specific type ofGrandes Écoles,French institutions ofhigher educationseparate from, but parallel and connected to the main framework of theFrench public university system.Similar to theIvy Leaguein the United States,Oxbridgein the UK, andC9 Leaguein China,Grandes Écolesare elite academic institutions that admit students through an extremely competitive process.[7][8][9]Grandes Écolestypically have much smaller class sizes and student bodies than public universities in France, and many of their programs are taught in English. While mostGrandes Écolesare more expensive than French universities, theÉcole normale supérieurecharges the same tuition fees: €243 annually at master's degree in 2021–2022.[10]International internships, study abroad opportunities, and close ties with government and the corporate world are a hallmark of theGrandes Écoles.[11][12]Degrees fromÉcole normale supérieureare accredited by theConférence des Grandes Écoles[13]and awarded by theMinistry of National Education (France)(French:Le Ministère de L'éducation Nationale).[14]Alums go on to occupy elite positions within government, administration, and corporate firms in France.[15][16]

The competitive entrance exams for admission to the ENSs are extremely selective. They recruit mainly fromscientificandhumanitiesPrépas,even though a small number of their students (fewer than 10 each year) are recruited separately on the basis of highly competitive exams. The students from France and otherEuropean Unioncountries recruited after a Classe préparatoire are consideredcivil servantsin training, and as such paid a monthly salary, in exchange for an agreement to serve France for 10 years, including those of their studies.

TheÉcole normale supérieurelocated in Paris is nicknamed "Ulm" from its addressrue d'Ulm(UlmStreet). It teaches sciences and humanities.École normale supérieure de LyoninLyonalso teaches sciences and humanities.École normale supérieure Paris-Saclaylocated in Cachan, a suburb of Paris andÉcole normale supérieure de Renneslocated near Rennes teaches in 5 departements, which are: mechatronics, mathematics, informatics, sport sciences, earth sciences and law-economics-management.

Until recently and unlike most of the othergrandes écoles,theécoles normales supérieuresdid not award any specific diplomas (students who had completed the curriculum they had agreed to with the office of the Dean upon arrival were simply entitled to be known as "ENS Alumni" or "Normaliens"), but they encourage their students to obtain university diplomas in partner institutions whilst providing extra classes and support. Many ENS students obtain more than one university diploma.

According to a calculation published in 2016 byNature journal,the ENS Paris is the institution which, in proportion to the number of its alumni, has formed the greatest number of Nobel Prizes (0.001 35per capita) in the world, which allows it to get ahead of the prestigiousCalifornia Institute of Technology(Caltech) andHarvard University(respectively 0.000 67 and 0.000 32 per capita).[17]

References

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  1. ^"The different types of Institutes of Higher Education in France".Campus France.Retrieved14 November2024.
  2. ^abcEdwards, Reginald (Fall 1991)."Theory, History, and Practice of Education: Fin de siècle and a new beginning".McGill Journal of Education.26(3).)
  3. ^"Loi n°84-52 du 26 janvier 1984 sur l'enseignement supérieur".JORF.27 January 1984.
  4. ^Cubberley, Ellwood P.(1920).The history of Education.p. 510.
  5. ^abcFavier, Jean(1994)."Des arts libéraux à la pluridisciplinarité: approches de l'encyclopédisme".Comptes rendus des séances de l'Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres(in French).138(4):911–923.doi:10.3406/crai.1994.15420.Retrieved3 April2011.
  6. ^abLuc, Jean-Noël (1980)."La formation des professeurs de maîtres d'école en France avant 1914".Revue française de pédagogie(in French).51(1):50–57.doi:10.3406/rfp.1980.1713.Retrieved5 April2011.
  7. ^"France's educational elite".The Daily Telegraph.London. 17 November 2003.Retrieved5 February2019.
  8. ^Pierre Bourdieu (1998).The State Nobility: Elite Schools in the Field of Power.Stanford UP. pp.133–35.ISBN9780804733465.
  9. ^What are Grandes Ecoles Institutes in France?
  10. ^"DROITS DE SCOLARITÉ – FORMATION INITIALE NIVEAUX LICENCE ET MASTER ANNÉE UNIVERSITAIRE 2021-2022"(PDF)(in French). École normale supérieure Paris-Saclay.Retrieved5 February2022.
  11. ^"FT European Business Schools Ranking 2021: France dominates".Financial Times.Archivedfrom the original on 10 December 2022.Retrieved26 January2022.
  12. ^"Higher Education in France".BSB.Retrieved26 January2022.
  13. ^"Conférence des grandes écoles: commission Accréditation".Conférence des grandes écoles.Retrieved21 January2022.
  14. ^"Etablissements dispensant des formations supérieures initiales diplômantes conférant le grade de master".Ministry of France, Higher Education.Ministère de l'Enseignement supérieur, de la Recherche et de l'Innovation.Retrieved16 January2022.
  15. ^Monique de Saint-Martin,« Les recherches sociologiques sur les grandes écoles: de la reproduction à la recherche de justice », Éducation et sociétés 1/2008 (No. 21), p. 95–103.lire en lignesurCairn.info
  16. ^Valérie Albouy et Thomas Wanecq,Les inégalités sociales d’accès aux grandes écoles(2003),INSEE
  17. ^Clynes, T. (7 October 2016).Nature (journal)(ed.)."Hsu & Wai survey of universities worldwide ranked by ratio of Nobel laureates to alumni".Nature.538(7624): 152.doi:10.1038/nature.2016.20757.PMID27734890..
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