Geography in Lycées and Colleges in France: Constraints and Dynamics

Abstract

The teaching of geography in French secondary schools is trapped between inherited borders and dynamizing processes. The circumstances prevailing at the time of the introduction of geography in schools and in the university are still tangible in the form of inheritances such as the surviving links between History and Geography, or Vidal de la Blache's theories. Nevertheless new elements have been introduced in education over approximately the last twenty years. These include epistemological and methodological renewal, a systemic approach, the use of forms of spatial representation, an interest in spatial management . . . In this way, Geography education has improved its public image.