Acting within the framework of Franco-British cooperation agreements, a group of experts from the 3 countries came together to discuss the current state of education for responsible behaviour and citizenship (including diet), and to propose a way forward

THE PARTICIPANTS

These French, English and Scottish specialists representing the English Department for Education and Skills, the local authorities of Birmingham and Coventry, the Citizenship Foundation, the Scottish Executive, the Scottish local authorities from Dumbartonshire, Learning and Teaching Scotland, the DGESCO at the French Minstry of Education, and the académies of Amiens and Nancy-Metz, meet regularly to discuss education policy

The first meeting of these experts (5 from each county) took place in Edinburgh in May 2006. It was followed by a Café Education, run by the British Council, in which the experts continued their work by video-conference, before coming together again in Nancy from 8 to 10 November 2006. Another video-conference was held on 20th February 2007, and the next meeting will be in Coventry in the month of June.

THE THEMES DISCUSSED

The debates on major educational questions have provided the opportunity to judge to what extent the three countries are faced with similar situations and problems, and how they can benefit from the experience of their partners.

The first meetings have led to the creation of a comparative table on Education for Citizenship in the three countries including the concepts, the objectives, the framework, the participants, and the systems of support and evaluation

NEXT STEPS

The concrete outcome of the group’s work will be the creation of a common tool (brochure or CD-ROM) which will include

			a comparative table on Education for Citizenship
			examples of good practice specific to each country
			a passport for “Citizenship and health

This passport, initially proposed by the académie of Nancy-Metz, will be adapted by the schools (secondary and primary) of the académies of Nancy-Metz and Amiens, the English local authorities of Birmingham and Coventry in England, and of Dumbartonshire in Scotland, who will work in co-operation with each other.

The contributions of the different countries will soon be available on the web sites of the British Council and Eduscol.

MORE INFORMATION ON THE EXPERT GROUPS

To find out more about the education debates which took place between 2003 and 2006, download the brochure France & England : an exchange of views.