Is classroom practice becoming more homogeneous around the world, or will teachers continue to work very differently across different countries? This article addresses those questions by comparing first- and second-grade reading lessons in France, Guinea, and the United States. It shows that what reading lessons in each country have in common is…

The study described here was conducted to compare classrooms in France and the United States. Two brief episodes from a U.S. first-grade classroom and two from a French first-grade classroom were shown to groups of parents and teachers in France, and to groups of teachers in the United States. Participants were asked to record their reactions on a…

Argues that, even though the French elementary education system has changed in recent decades, basic problems have reemerged in new forms. Maintains that, despite striking differences between France and the United States with respect to ability grouping, teaching preparation and methods, and other issues, deeper problems of the two educational…

French elementary school teachers as well as the parents of their pupils remember being quiet students in teacher-dominated classrooms. Yet today both teachers and parents idealize lively classroom participation by their pupils or children. In this study, teachers and parents in an urban school district in Villefleurie, France, watched videotaped…