Scolarisation des enfants de 4 et 5 ans en Suisse romande
Abstract
Up to now, kindergarten and nursery schools in the French speaking part of Switzerland were optional and followed a globally different curriculum from primary schools. A series of current and future school reforms will fundamentally modify the role and place of pre-primary schools: from now on, kindergarten is compulsory, a new curriculum with more detailed learning objectives is or will be introduced and new teaching materials are being or will be used; these measures will contribute to anchor this early education more firmly in the school structure and organisation. However, some people fear that the specific aspects of kindergarten might disappear and they warn from à possible primarisation of this grade. Semi-directive interviews with kindergarten teachers of both Vaud and Geneva have been conducted in order to question evaluation practices in kindergarten and primary classes. An analysis of the answers by category reveals important similarities when teachers make a learning assessment or establish an evaluation folder. The main results of this study are that subject matter seems more important to teachers than general aspects which would focus on a global approach of children, and frequent use of formal evidence (such as tests and skills assessment). Such results show a tendency to shift towards a mere transmission of knowledge and correspond therefore to what is commonly said about primary school.
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