2023-10-02 13:49:00
Is your child a Greek-math option at school? So he will have more chances of succeeding in his studies in higher education, according to one Liso Project investigation which has been following the educational journey of thousands of young Flemish people since 2013. The difference is even obvious between the first and last on the list. Where 61% of Greek-math students obtain their baccalaureate in three years, only 20% of former students of the economics-modern language section. Those who chose Latin also did very well, with a percentage of 53% for Latin-math, 46% for Latin-Greek, and 43% for Latin-science.
The results may surprise. After all, wouldn’t it be more useful to learn the humanities and modern languages to succeed in higher education, rather than the two great idioms used under the Roman Empire? In theory yes, but in reality the question is not really there. What matters much more is the profile of the students placed in this or that sector.
Latin-Greek, the number 1 choice of the elite
For Éric Mangez, professor of sociology at UCLouvain, these results are not a coincidence. “The Latin or Greek courses play above all a function of selection and distinction from above in the educational system“, he tells Le Vif. In other words, the upper classes are more likely to put their children in Latin-Greek than the others.
This can be seen in Belgium and elsewhere. In France for example, The world noted in 2015 that ancient languages are much more chosen by the children of teachers (44% of the total) and managers (39%) than those of employees (20%) and workers (15%).
The many advantages of advantaged classes
However, as Pierre Bourdieu and Jean-Claude Passeron have shown, these same advantaged social backgrounds basically have better chances of success at school. Their studies thus note a correlation between these results and the fact that parents have better diplomas and are more attentive to the academic level of their children (to do their homework, to introduce them to new subjects, etc.). Research even confirms that higher grades use more developed vocabulary, which is stimulating for children.
They also noticed that the better cultural and financial resources of these families push them to have better grades in class. In other words, it helps to have plenty of books and to go on vacation regularly to discover new cultures, new knowledge and to have an open mind. Even outside of class, these young people are more often stimulated than others.
Another sociologist, Raymond Boudon, shows that each family makes individual choices which, on a societal scale, lead to perverse effects. Everyone tends to place their children in a school that resembles them, socially, economically and psychologically. Favored backgrounds will thus end up in the middle due to the choice of school and sector, and the same goes for the less wealthy classes.
A school that reproduces inequalities
On the other hand, Bourdieu and Passeron also demonstrated that the educational institution had a tendency to value the knowledge of the upper classes. Thus, school reproduces and aggravates the differences that exist within society. Students who do not have the chance to grow up in the “right” social environment (ethnic, cultural, etc.) are less likely to perform well. According to the two sociologists, equality of opportunity is therefore a myth.
And PHD carried out by UCLouvain researcher Géraldine André in the Charleroi region shows in this sense that teachers are more severe towards young people from disadvantaged social backgrounds. This is even more the case when they demonstrate behavior considered contrary to the values of the establishment. This is what Géraldine André calls the “professorial judgment“.
Sociologist Marie Duru-Bellat, for her part, insists on the importance of family education. The upper classes value in their children several concepts well seen by the teaching staff (sense of initiative, analytical and abstract language, tendency towards autonomy, continuity of teaching time outside of school, etc.). Conversely, working-class families place more emphasis on the gap between work and leisure time, the use of concrete and non-verbal language, etc.
Finally, doing your school career in classes where there are many “good students” logically allows you to progress more quickly in the subject and learn more things. In this sense, Latin-Greek classes, which concentrate this type of children, benefit from a significant advantage.
A “self-fulfilling prophecy”
“It is a circular, self-perpetuating process. School practices meet parents’ expectations and vice versa“, summarizes Éric Mangez. The latter speaks thus of “self-fulfilling prophecy” to explain the success of Latin-Greek students.
Considering all these factors, it is therefore not surprising that Latin-Greek students have better results. By administering maths and (Dutch) reading tests, the Liso Project also noticed that the scores in Latin-maths were 132 and 135 respectively, whereas the economics-modern languages stream only reached 112 and 120. On the IQ test, which also values certain knowledge over others, the former had an average of 109 compared to 101 for the latter.
These ancient language courses do not intrinsically offer the opportunity to develop critical thinking and mastery of the language more than the human sciences and modern languages courses, but the ecosystem of these classes does indeed allow us to tend in this direction. .
1696294794
#LatinGreek #students #perform #higher #education