On November 1, 2019, Professor Romuald Normand from the University of Strasbourg, France delivered a lecture entitled “French Educational Policies in the Age of Globalization” for IICE’s International Education Podium. The lecture was chaired by IICE Associate Professor LIU Min and attended by faculty members and graduate students from the IICE.

Prof. Normand began his lecture by having a retrospection of the ‘tradition’ of French education. He firstly analyzed the very foundation on which French public education was built in 1880s, including the spiritual legacy of philosophers during the Enlightment period, the value of ‘liberty, equality and fraternity’ during the French revolution period, and the centralism established by Napoleon during the period of France’s First Empire. Then Prof. Malet introduced the democratization of education in the 1990s and elaborated upon a few initiatives including decentralization, educational priority area, and the shift of focus on minority groups’ educational participation. Finally, he reflected upon the challenges of French education in the age of globalization and the rapid development of technological breakthroughs.

Prof. Normand pointed out that the prevalent implementation of new public management nowadays has posed a counteractive effect against the conservative educational forces in France, with numerous theoretical and practical problems emerging to be addressed. He believed that comparative education provides an extremely important perspective for educational reform for France and beyond as the findings gained through comparative education will serve as important references for educational reform.  

Prof. Romuald Normand is also an adjunct professor of France’s École Nationale d’Administration, and the director of Sino-France Educational Innovation Center. His research interests are on educational sociology, leadership and management, and higher education policies.