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Anna Perry's avatar

“Les concours” do not meet scientifically rigorous standards of assessment. They are purely a measurement of students’ ability to toe the French traditional line of thinking.

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Nassie | Snippets of Paris's avatar

Yes exactly, traditional way of thinking,rather than anything more profound.

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Anna Perry's avatar

Les concours de philosophie (and not just philo) are to education what kosher is to nutrition: based in long-forgotten standards of a faraway time and place that do not hold up to scientific scrutiny and that are applied idiosyncratically for the purposes of a club of faithfuls clinging desperately to power and prestige

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David Gemeinhardt's avatar

The prestige of the grandes écoles is very high. At my university in Canada, there was only one prof in the French department who graduated from the ENS. I don't think it's a coincidence that he was also the only tenured prof who didn't have a doctorate.

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Nassie | Snippets of Paris's avatar

Oh what uni was it? (I went to UofT, though I didn’t take french there). Yes, I’ve noticed that people are so impressed when someone says they went especially if it is to X, these exams must be something!

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David Gemeinhardt's avatar

It was Western.

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