Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Notes on Contributors
- Foreword by His Excellency
- Foreword
- Preface
- Part I: Teaching and Training Partnerships
- 1 Why is the United Kingdom Important to Sciences Po?
- 2 Franco-Welsh Academic Partnerships: A Case Study Involving Transnational and Cross-sector Mobility
- 3 Double Diplomas: A Franco-British Training Route of Excellence for Teachers of French Worldwide?
- 4 The Entente Cordiale: A Grande École Engineering School Perspective
- 5 Links Between British Universities and French Instituts Universitaires de Technologie: New Forms of Collaboration
- 6 One Model: The Franco-German University
- 7 Raising Students’ International Profile: How Do Universities Address This Issue in Europe?
- 8 Franco-British Academic Partnerships at the University of Provence
- 9 University College London and France: Teaching and Research Collaborations
- 10 Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne: An Overview of More Than 30 Years of Franco-British Partnerships
- 11 Towards a Vision for a Networked European Business School
- Part II: Research Partnerships
- Part III: Broader Perspectives
- Appendices: Addresses and Speeches at the Franco-British Academic Partnerships Seminar, French Institute, London, 5 February 2010
4 - The Entente Cordiale: A Grande École Engineering School Perspective
from Part I: Teaching and Training Partnerships
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Notes on Contributors
- Foreword by His Excellency
- Foreword
- Preface
- Part I: Teaching and Training Partnerships
- 1 Why is the United Kingdom Important to Sciences Po?
- 2 Franco-Welsh Academic Partnerships: A Case Study Involving Transnational and Cross-sector Mobility
- 3 Double Diplomas: A Franco-British Training Route of Excellence for Teachers of French Worldwide?
- 4 The Entente Cordiale: A Grande École Engineering School Perspective
- 5 Links Between British Universities and French Instituts Universitaires de Technologie: New Forms of Collaboration
- 6 One Model: The Franco-German University
- 7 Raising Students’ International Profile: How Do Universities Address This Issue in Europe?
- 8 Franco-British Academic Partnerships at the University of Provence
- 9 University College London and France: Teaching and Research Collaborations
- 10 Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne: An Overview of More Than 30 Years of Franco-British Partnerships
- 11 Towards a Vision for a Networked European Business School
- Part II: Research Partnerships
- Part III: Broader Perspectives
- Appendices: Addresses and Speeches at the Franco-British Academic Partnerships Seminar, French Institute, London, 5 February 2010
Summary
The Entente Cordiale put an end to centuries of recurrent conflict between England and France, and signalled the beginning of a peaceful coexistence, which continues today. The success of the agreement was underlined by the extensive, year-long celebrations on the occasion of the hundredth anniversary of its signing in 1904. The centenary commemorations were marked by state visits on both sides of the Channel. In her speech on 5 April 2004, in Paris, Queen Elizabeth II stressed the enduring closeness of these two ancient enemies:
Thousands of British are settling, living and working in France, and thousands of French are crossing the Channel to do the same. Millions of British holidaymakers visit France each year.… Economically and culturally we are doing so much more together, as our companies invest both ways across the Channel, and the worlds of for example fashion, art and sport are increasingly interdependent.
The question raised by these observations is: to what extent can higher education be added to this list? In the same speech, the Queen went on to present the other side of the coin:
Of course we will never agree on everything. Life would be dull indeed, not least for the rest of the world, if we did not allow ourselves a little space to live up to our national caricatures – British pragmatism and French élan; French conceptualism and British humour; British rain and French sun; I think we should enjoy the complementarity of it all.
She concluded with a ringing ‘Vive la différence, mais vive L'Entente Cordiale’.
As academic professionals seek to forge closer links between French and British higher education establishments, it is perhaps worthwhile examining the particularities of the French Grande École system.
The Grande École System
The first Grandes Écoles came into being in France in the late eighteenth century. They exist side by side with the universities within the state education system, the Education Nationale, while remaining quite separate. The main difference is that French universities are obliged to accept all students who pass the Baccalaureate, while the Grandes Écoles have very strict recruitment criteria. Candidates are obliged to take a demanding entrance examination and generally spend at least two years preparing for this at specialist écoles préparatoires.
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- Franco-British Academic PartnershipsThe Next Chapter, pp. 38 - 47Publisher: Liverpool University PressPrint publication year: 2011