THE TRAINING OF PHYSICAL-EDUCATION TEACHERS IN FRANCE AND CHINA: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF CURRICULA AND ATTITUDES

PIERRE ANDRIAMAMPIANINA and AZZEDINE SI MOUSSA
Abstract – This study in comparative physical education examines the curricula followed
by physical-education teachers in China and France. It explores how theories
of physical education and sport in each country have developed out of specific political,
cultural and educational contexts, yet resulted in strong similarities in terms of
the priority given to training programs. Nonetheless, it can be seen that the two curricula
reflect genuinely divergent concepts of physical education influencing both theory
and practice. The attitudes of Chinese and French teacher-trainers towards
physical education and sport are shown to display significant ideological differences
with regard to the meaning and educational import of these activities.
Zusammenfassung – DIE AUSBILDUNG VON SPORTLEHRERN IN FRANKREICH
UND CHINA: EINE VERGLEICHENDE ANALYSE VON LEHRPLA¨ -
NEN UND EINSTELLUNGEN – Diese Studie im Bereich des vergleichenden
Sportunterrichtes untersucht die Lehrpla¨ ne, denen die Sportlehrer in China und
Frankreich folgen. Sie erforscht, wie sich Theorien des Sportunterrichtes und des
Sportes in beiden La¨ ndern aus spezifischen politischen, kulturellen und erzieherischen
Kontexten unterschiedlich entwickelt, aber auch zu starken A¨ hnlichkeiten in Bezug
auf den Vorrang gefu¨ hrt haben, welcher den U¨ bungsprogrammen eingera¨umt wird.
Dennoch kann ersehen werden, dass die zwei Lehrpla¨ ne genuin voneinander abweichende
Konzepte des Sportunterrichtes widerspiegeln, die sowohl Theorie als auch
Praxis beeinflussen. Die Einstellungen chinesischer und franzo¨ sischer Lehrer-Ausbilder
zu Sportunterricht und Sport offenbaren bezeichnende ideologische Unterschiede
in Bezug auf die Bedeutung und den erzieherischen Wert dieser Aktivita¨ ten.
Re´sume´ – LA FORMATION DES ENSEIGNANTS EN E´ DUCATION PHYSIQUE
EN FRANCE ET EN CHINE : UNE ANALYSE COMPARATIVE DES
PROGRAMMES ET DES ATTITUDES – Cette e´tude sur l’e´ducation physique
comparative examine les programmes suivis par les enseignants en e´ducation physique
en Chine et en France. Elle explore comment les the´ories sur l’e´ducation physique et
le sport se sont de´veloppe´s dans chaque pays a` partir de contextes e´ducatifs, politiques
et culturels spe´cifiques, et ont pourtant abouti a` de fortes similitudes en termes
de priorite´s donne´es aux programmes de formation. Ne´anmoins, on peut voir que les
deux programmes refle`tent des concepts ve´ritablement divergents d’e´ducation physique,
influenc¸ant aussi bien la the´orie que la pratique. Il est visible que les attitudes
des formateurs d’enseignants Chinois et Franc¸ ais par rapport a` l’e´ducation physique
et au sport manifestent des diffe´rences ide´ologiques significatives en regard du sens et
de l’importance e´ducative de ces activite´ s.
Resumen – LA FORMACIO´ N DE DOCENTES DE EDUCACIO´N FI´SICA EN
FRANCIA Y CHINA: UN ANA´ LISIS COMPARATIVO DE CURRI´CULOS Y
International Review of Education (2005) 51:23–34 Springer 2005
DOI 10.1007/s11159-005-0588-7
ENFOQUES – En este estudio comparativo de la educacio´n fı´sica, los autores
examinan los currı´culos delineados para los docentes en educacio´n fı´sica en China y
Francia. Investigan co´mo las teorı´as de la educacio´n fı´sica y el deporte se han desarrollado
en cada uno de los paı´ses independientemente de contextos especı´ficos polı´ticos,
culturales y educativos, manifesta´ ndose incluso grandes similitudes en cuanto a
la prioridad otorgada a sus programas de formacio´ n. Sin embargo, se puede comprobar
que los dos planes de estudio reflejan conceptos realmente divergentes de la educacio
´n fı´sica, que influyen tanto sobre la teorı´a como sobre la pra´ ctica. Los enfoques
de los instructores de docentes chinos y franceses en cuanto a la educacio´n fı´sica y
los deportes muestran diferencias esenciales en te´rminos de significado e importancia
educativa que se atribuyen a estas actividades.
The current phase of development in China is characterised by a high level
of interest in Western culture and practices. The reforms of the last 20 years
have profoundly affected Chinese society, transforming its planned economy
into a market economy and allowing the country to open up to the outside
world (Lew 2000). International economic and technological competition is
perceived in China as a major challenge for education. The Chinese government
has identified several priorities in education, notably illiteracy, compulsory
education and a higher education system that meets the needs of a
modern, competitive society. A desire to catch up with more developed
countries has led to the abandonment of the old policies in favour of
exchange with the West. As a result, comparative educational studies are
now allowed and even encouraged in China (Gu 2001).
As demonstrated by current international analyses of school systems, a
global education system is emerging (Meuris and de Cock 1997). Higher education
in particular reflects this trend; while universities can now be regarded
as both local and international institutions (Altbach 1998). In light of these
developments, we have chosen to undertake a comparison of French and
Chinese universities, aimed not at treating theoretical research, but at analysing
the actual training given to secondary-school physical-education teachers. We
24 Pierre Andriamampianina and Azzedine Si Moussa
were also motivated by an awareness that physical education rarely features in
the international comparative research on education carried out by bodies such
as the IEA, UNESCO or OECD, but which rather tends to focus on performance
in the ‘3 Rs’.
The aim of this study is to examine the roles of physical-education teachertrainers
and the respective curricula in the emergence of particular concepts in
physical education in France and China. One of our key premises was that
teacher-trainers working with a particular syllabus would either support it or
question it. As the syllabi for physical education influence both the physical
and the educational methods, we decided to analyse the degree of congruity in
teacher-trainers’ perceptions of the curricula.
Methodological considerations
The present study involves a comparison of two very different and influential
social models and academic systems. We decided to compare a French and a
Chinese university from a training viewpoint. Our research takes into
account other comparative studies of higher education in China (Bray and
Qin 2001), as well as studies of higher education and teacher-training in
France. The work presented here is based on surveys carried out at the Le
Tampon campus of the University of La Re´union (France) and at the Beijing
University of Physical Education (People’s Republic of China), respectively.
As both France and China have centralised education systems, both institutions
can be seen as representative of national training methods. In other
words, teacher-training is organised similarly in every university in France and
in China, although individual universities are quite autonomous. We analysed
the training curricula and interviewed teacher-trainers from both universities,
conducting 14 guided interviews (7 in each university). The data collected
relates to the trainers’ own academic profiles, perceptions of physical education,
expectations concerning student knowledge and skills, and their view of
their teachers’ academic training.
Development and theory of physical education
In France, various human-modelling patterns reflecting the changes of technological
progress have influenced both the orientation and the content of physical
education during the last century (Arnaud 1979). Technico-educational
approaches have been influenced by the bio-mechanical model; approaches
taken from physiological pedagogy by the bio-energy model; psychological
pedagogy by the psycho-educational model; and social dominated pedagogy
by the socio-educational model. The changes in the way the human body is
perceived, when applied to the theory and practice of physical education, have
led to a three-dimensional conception of the human body or machine: one
Physical-Education Teachers in France and China 25
dimension being the mechanical mode, in which visible gestures are significant;
another the energetic mode, in which physiological aspects dominate; and the
third the computer mode, in which exchange and transmission of signals are
important, this last mode being influenced by cybernetics (Parlebas 1971).
From an epistemological point of view, physical education has also been influenced
by Cartesian dualism, associationism, Gestalt theory, phenomenology,
psychoanalysis, structuralism and systematism (Bayer 1999).
An analysis of the evolution of physical education reveals an increasing
emphasis on sport in France. Indeed, sporting practices have long dominated
in physical education. While teachers do have some room to manoeuvre, it is
mainly sport as a cultural reference that is taught. However, the increasing
dominance of sporting practices in physical education has met with some
opposition. Psychomotricity, traditional local games, spontaneous activities,
self-expressive activities, and free open-air activities have been promoted in
an attempt to counterbalance the dominance of sport. Today, although sport
continues to dominate French physical education, these counter-currents
have helped to bring greater variety to the discipline.
As far as teacher-training is concerned, French universities are relatively
autonomous when it comes to defining curriculum content, although this is
still largely determined by the syllabus of the teacher-training examination
(CAPEPS). Teacher-training covers three main subjects: theoretical science,
pedagogy, and the didactics of physical activities and sports. Each subject
influences the conception of training and involves a conflict between ‘‘practitioners’’
and ‘‘theorists’’ (Michon 1989); between educational academics and
secondary school teachers; between the scientific claims of the former and the
latter’s attachment to fieldwork. Physical-education syllabi need to reconcile
the work of researchers with the practical experience of physical-education
teachers. French university physical-education courses (STAPS) reflect a desire
to strengthen academic legitimacy at a time when universities are increasingly
tailoring their curricula to the demands of the working world (Dorville 1993).
In China, physical education seems to be defined by socio-political expectations
(Jones 1999), rather than by abstract conflicts. The greatest conflict
within the discipline is between the advocates of traditional Chinese practices
and the founders of modern sporting practices, which tend to be more competition-
oriented.
Since the creation of the People’s Republic of China, competitive sports have
been an integral part of physical education in China. The government has taken
measures to encourage the development of sport, both for health reasons and
to construct national identity. Physical education along with sport is therefore
viewed as a means of reinforcing the relationship between the individual and
the state. There is consequently a close link between the state and the school.
Chinese traditional practices differ from Western sports in four principal
ways (Wang 1990). Their main purpose is the improvement of health; the
movements often imitate living creatures; they embody philosophical concepts;
and their development reflects that of Chinese society as a whole. Furthermore,
26 Pierre Andriamampianina and Azzedine Si Moussa
they can be separated into various categories. On one hand, there are traditional
health-based practices such as wushus, taijiquan, qigong, and wuqinxi
(‘Chinese martial arts’, ‘Taiji-boxing’, ‘energy-mastering’, and ‘five-animals
form’). On the other hand, there are entertaining, festive and popular practices
such as dragon-boat races, dragon dances, kite-flying, horse-racing, workers’
games, farmers’ games and traditional games for minorities. To this list, one
could also add government-sponsored practices such as exercise programmes
broadcast on the radio, or carried out during work breaks, which are generally
aimed at improving production levels.
The development of physical education in China was closely linked to
army training and health activities until, at the end of the 19th century, the
growing influence of the West disrupted several centuries of tradition (Hayhoe
1999). Since then, Western sporting practices have become more and more
prevalent (Speak 1999). As a result, modern physical education in China is
grounded in Western natural physical education, as influenced by European
and American theorists and teachers such as Basedow, Gutsmuth, Gaulhofer,
Hebert and Rousseau. The adoption of Western physical education also represented
a reaction against religious asceticism in favour of a ‘complete’ form of
physical education, allowing each individual to find a ‘natural’ movement.
This type of physical education replaced military training, and its humanist
values led to one of the most profound transformations in Chinese physical
education (Wang 1995).
The adoption of sport undermined Confucian tradition and marked a
turning point in the development of physical-education practices, though this
phase was later followed by the rehabilitation of traditional practices. Physical
education in China is now found in three separate forms: health practices,
military practices and Western sporting practices, with greatest
emphasis currently placed on the latter.
With regard to teacher training, while we have little knowledge of internal
debates in the field, we could nonetheless surmise there is some tension in
China between ‘normal’ and ‘academic’ approaches (Kechao and Yajun
1999). The modern training system was developed at the end of the 19th century
based on a combination of foreign and Chinese experiences. The Teacher
Training College system appears much like the French system, in that trainee
teachers are recruited at the end of secondary school.
Comparative analysis of training curricula
Our analysis compares the first three years of the curriculum in both countries.
Table 1 shows the courses on offer in each university (ranked in terms
of hours studied).
In both countries, practical activities demand the highest number of
hours, albeit in different quantities (866 h in France compared to 1,596 h in
China). Over three years of study, the Chinese students receive 2,640 h of
Physical-Education Teachers in France and China 27
training compared to 1,910 h for the French students. This difference in total
hours studied is equivalent to one French academic year. Overall, practical
activities represent 45% of the hours studied in French courses and 58% in
Chinese courses.
Four qualifying points need to be considered here
1. The Chinese curriculum contains subjects dealing with the philosophy and
politics of modern China (comprising 8% of the curriculum) which are
not found in the French curriculum;
2. Foreign languages are important (comprising 10% of curriculum) at Beijing
University, whereas they are almost non-existent (1%) in the French
curriculum;
3. In both countries, biology is more important than social sciences,
although to a varying degree (19% of the curriculum in France and 7%
in China), while social sciences play a far lesser role in the scientific component
of the curriculum in China (2%) than in France (15%);
4. Finally, practical training experience is minimal during the three years of
the basic teaching qualification in France (2%), and entirely absent in
China.
As regards the main activities offered out in the first two years, the three
key subjects are the same in both cases: athletics, gymnastics and team sports
(see Table 2)
There is, however, a wider range of activities in France. It would appear
from the fact that curriculum designers choose to focus on traditional sports
that these basic activities are a mandatory requirement for students starting
the training course. Although the range of activities is broader in the French
university system, the distribution of study hours probably reflects a stricter
hierarchical approach to the different subjects.
Physical activities are thus at the heart of both curricula, reflecting a desire
that teachers-to-be have theoretical and practical knowledge of physical-education
teaching methods. Of the three core elements of the teacher-training
Table 1. Subjects taught
Rank France China
1 Physical activities and sport Physical activities and sport
2 Biological science Foreign languages
3 Social sciences Philosophy and politics
4 Research methodology Biological science
5 Others Others
6 Practical training Computer science
7 Written and oral expression Research methodology
8 Computer science Human sciences
9 Foreign languages Written and oral expression
10 Legal/institutional frameworks Legal/institutional frameworks
28 Pierre Andriamampianina and Azzedine Si Moussa
curriculum in France (physical activities, fundamental sciences and pedagogy),
physical activities are dominant. While one can hardly claim, without
close study of course content, that teacher-training aims to promote vocational
ability, the curricula are undoubtedly based on the tools and methods
specific to the professional activities of physical-education teachers, for
whom they offer materials and techniques. It appears at first sight as though
both curricula are informed by a pragmatic approach, with a focus on physical
activities and their educational applications. In the Chinese curriculum,
science appears to be a supplementary rather than a core subject. But
paradoxically, in both countries, only a small proportion of the training is in
fact devoted to professional practice. The curricula seem to offer training
with professional aims but without practical teaching experience.
In Beijing, the subjects in the table which feature just below physical
activities have no direct link to the field of physical-education: foreign languages
and modern Chinese history. The relationship between politics and
education remains strong, both in form and in content, but is now intended
to reflect the ‘‘opening door policy’’ (Agelasto and Adamson 1998). Judging
by the curriculum, the Chinese physical-education teacher is intended to be an
expert in physical activity with considerable knowledge of Chinese philosophical
and political history; he or she is also equipped to take part in international
exchanges thanks to his or her linguistic and computing skills.
The French physical-education curriculum is essentially characterised by
the emphasis placed on science subjects (comprising more than a third of the
curriculum). As physical education has only quite recently been introduced
as a university discipline, it was felt necessary to stress scientific elements in
the physical-education curriculum in order to guarantee its credibility within
the universities. However, contrary to some initial expectations, it would be
wrong to characterise French physical-education teacher-training as simply a
branch of biological science. Indeed, the syllabus of the teachers’ examination
demonstrates a broader focus: As social sciences are given considerable
weight in the written exams, there is a balanced distribution of ‘hard’ and
Table 2. Practical subjects taught during the first two years
France China
Subject Hours % Subject Hours %
Team sports 144 33.9 Athletics 160 41.6
Athletics 70 16.5 Gymnastics 128 33.3
Gymnastics 64 15.1 Team sports 64 16.6
Open-air activities 50 11.8 Body-building 32 8.3
Swimming 32 7.5
Self-expression 22 5.1
Table tennis 22 5.1
Total 424 100.0 Total 384 100.0
Physical-Education Teachers in France and China 29
‘soft’ scientific subjects in the curriculum. However, little time is devoted to
foreign languages or to computing skills. One can thus reasonably conclude
that the French physical-education curriculum aims to provide students with
expert knowledge of physical activity, with a firm scientific grounding.
These elements would seem to confirm Hyunh Cao Tri’s remarks (quoted
in Leˆ Tha`nh Khoˆ i 1981), according to which the Chinese physical-education
curriculum contains a form of moral education, whereas the French curriculum
is dominated by theoretical subjects. The three identity groups (military,
medical and pedagogical) with which the physical-education teacher is historically
associated (Andrieu 1992) are also reflected in both curricula.
Attitudes of teacher-trainers
Based on the questionnaires we submitted to French and Chinese teacher
trainers, two different attitudes towards physical education became clear. In
both countries, teacher-trainers agree on the need to define physical education
vis-a` -vis sport. However, for French teachers sport is merely one component
of physical education, whereas for Chinese teachers the two are
indistinguishable. This is the main point of difference between the two
approaches. Competition, which was incompatible with traditional Chinese
mores, is now in that country a tenet of education. Every challenge which
China sets itself at an international level seems to find its institutional equivalent
within the framework of physical education. The responses we received
from Chinese teachers were relatively homogeneous; the words ‘sports’,
‘skills‘ and ‘basics’ recurred throughout their responses. The expressions
‘good teaching methods’, ‘good training methods’ and ‘showing the pupil’
refer to a clear model prescribing what must and must not be done. Sporting
techniques are understood according to this model. By contrast, the French
trainers’ answers frequently referred to the pupils and use expressions with a
greater cognitive dimension, such as ‘to understand’, ‘to transform’, ‘to compare’.
The idea of basic sports is found in both countries. While some French
teachers reject this concept, it is seen as a pre-requisite to further sports
training in China. If we refer to the models proposed by Pangrazi et al.
(Wong Poon Yuen Fong 1998), we could conclude that Chinese teachertrainers
mainly follow sport-and-health models, whereas their French counterparts
favour models of educational development and ‘education through
movement’. These differing priorities are reflected in each country’s training
approach, the one focusing essentially on rules and techniques (or, more
specifically, on the idea of a basic technique), the other concentrating on the
skills and abilities being promoted.
As far as the expectations of students are concerned, the Beijing University
teacher-trainers are interested in their students’ motor-skill level as well as in
teaching methods. Chinese teacher-trainers do not believe in physical-education
training without the prior acquisition of basic practical knowledge. The French
30 Pierre Andriamampianina and Azzedine Si Moussa
teacher-trainers, on the other hand, attribute more importance to theoretical
and methodological aspects, and consider scientific knowledge to be the mainstay
of teacher training.
Regarding the means of improving teacher-training, French trainers think
it unnecessary to include new fields of study in the curriculum, but they
agree on the need to implement more ‘in-school’ practical training. They
propose that new curricula should be devised that relate better to local environments.
In China, improvement of training is seen as requiring both the
inclusion of a social science (educational psychology) and the provision of
distance learning (Cheng, Jin and Gu 1999).
Attitudes to curriculum
We have already seen that physical activities constitute the core of the curriculum
in both countries. For Chinese trainers, they represent the greater part
of the subjects taught, while for French trainers they represent rather a
means of supporting a particular teaching method.
The French curriculum promotes scientific subjects (social and biological
sciences), and the trainers interviewed repeatedly referred to them in relation
to knowledge and working methods. Our study also found that social sciences
are largely regarded as irrelevant by the Chinese trainers, although
there is demand for additional training in psychology. Moreover, Chinese
trainers do not comment in any way on the importance of foreign languages
in the curriculum of the Beijing University of Sports or on the teaching of
modern Chinese history and philosophy.
Ultimately, this study reveals a ‘sports-based’ attitude to physical-education
teacher-training in Beijing and a ‘science-based’ approach in France. Although
the two institutes studied share a certain number of methods, each has a
separate training profile.
Based on our comparative analysis of physical-education teacher-training
concepts in China and France, we conclude that the two curricula examined
reflect differing concepts of physical education which are determining factors
in both theory and practice. We observed a real connection between concepts
and practices, mediated by the curricula. While the curricula provided only
partial information about the development of physical education in each
country, the responses of the trainers greatly aided our understanding of
political choices. The Chinese programme, which is mainly based on physical
and practical sports-based subjects, is understood to represent a sports-andhealth
model essentially directed towards the acquisition of sporting skills.
As a result, the students trained in Beijing implement ‘skills-centred’ educational
activities, placing greatest emphasis on participation in competitive
sport. The French curriculum is characterised by a far stronger emphasis on
scientific subjects, which is supported by the responses of teacher-trainers.
Physical-Education Teachers in France and China 31
In both countries, the physical activities which play such a central role in
teacher-training are relatively similar. These are traditional sports such as
athletics, gymnastics and team sports, which are often otherwise classified as
‘basic sports’.
Conclusion
In France, as in China, sport has emerged as the mainstay of physical education.
In China, the promotion of sports was seen as one means of promoting
socialist ideology internationally, and for this reason sport was usually preferred
over traditional practices. However, traditional practices are still
taught in schools as part of a general heath programme embodying the Chinese
identity and ethnic specificity. Western countries have also used sport to
promote political and economic values. In France, traditional practices were
taken out of physical education and replaced by sports.
We expected that some of the attitudes of the teacher-trainers would contradict
those expressed by the curricula. This was generally not the case in
relation to science in France, and in relation to physical activities in China.
However, some French trainers challenged the concept of basic sports by
refusing to recognise basic educational properties as part of athletics, gymnastics,
swimming and team sports. They even suggested that the dominance
of certain physical practices in the curriculum should be reduced. Finally,
the trainers’ responses emphasised both the scientific basis of the discipline
and the direction of the curriculum, although they mentioned the need for
more practical training, and sometimes questioned the methods used. At
Beijing University, the concepts underlying the curriculum were not challenged.
Indeed, the trainers’ answers seemed restricted in nature. Moreover,
the degree of contrast we observed between the Chinese and French
approaches raises the question of the validity of direct comparison, in particular
of asking the same questions despite clearly different ways of thinking.
Indeed, one conclusion of the present study is that concepts of physical
education and sport do not have the same meaning in France as they do in
China. In a related vein, it is likely that a comparative study conducted by
Chinese researchers would itself have been conceived very differently.
References
Agelasto, Mickael, and Bob Adamson. 1998. Higher Education in post-Mao China.
Hong Kong: University of Hong Kong Press.
Altbach, Philip. 1998. Comparative Higher Education: Knowledge, the University and
Development. Hong Kong: Comparative Education Research Centre.
Andrieu, Gilbert. 1992. Enjeux et de´bats en E.P. : Une histoire contemporaine. Paris:
Actio.
32 Pierre Andriamampianina and Azzedine Si Moussa
Arnaud, Pierre. 1979. L’e´ducation physique est-elle une science? Analyse d’une revendication.
Revue Binet et Simon 568: 121–143.
Bayer, Claude. 1999. Approches actuelles d’une e´piste´mologie des activite´s physiques et
sportives. Paris: L’Harmattan.
Bray, Mark, and Gui Qin. 2001. Comparative Education in Greater China: Contexts,
Characteristics, Contrasts and Contributions. Comparative Education 37(4): 451–473.
Cheng, Kai Ming, Xinhuo Jin, and Xiaobo Gu. 1999. From Training to Education:
Lifelong Learning in China. Comparative Education 35(2): 119–129.
Devine, Barry. 1986. Comparative Physical Education and Sport: A Discipline? In:
Comparative Physical Education and Sport 3. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.
Dorville, Christian. 1993. Les concours de recrutement comme re´ve´lateurs de l’identite
´ de l’e´ducation physique. In: L’identite´ de l’e´ducation physique scolaire au XXe`me
sie`cle, ed. by Association Francophone pour la Recherche en Activite´ s Physiques
Sportives (AFRAPS), 311–326. Clermont-Ferrand: AFRAPS.
Gu, Mingyuan. 2001. Education in China and Abroad: Perspectives from a Lifetime in
Comparative Education. Hong Kong: Comparative Education Research Centre.
Hayhoe, Ruth. 1999. China’s Universities 1895–1995: A Century of Cultural Conflict.
Hong Kong: Comparative Education Research Centre.
Jones, Robin. 1999. Sport and P.E. in School and University. In: Sport and Physical
Education in China, ed. by James Riordan, 90–119. London: E and FN Spon.
Kechao, Xing, and Meng Yajun. 1999. La formation des enseignants en Chine. Origine
lointaine, e´volution tortueuse et re´formes re´centes. Revue internationale d’E´ducation
de Se`vres 21: 85–92.
Leˆ Tha`nh Khoˆ i. 1981. L’e´ducation compare´e. Paris: Armand Colin.
Lew, Roland. 2000. Quand la Chine courtise l’OMC. L’Empire du Milieu dans la
tanie`re du tigre. Le Monde Diplomatique. De´cembre: 16–17.
Meuris, Georges, and Genevie`ve de Cock. 1997. Education compare´e: Essai de bilan
et projets d’avenir. Bruxelles: De Boeck Universite´ .
Michon, Bernard. 1989. Esquisse d’une histoire sociale de la formation des enseignants
en EPS. In: Education physique et sport en France 1920–1980, ed. by Association
Francophone pour la Recherche en Activite´s Physiques Sportives [AFRAPS], 199–211.
Clermont-Ferrand: AFRAPS .
Parlebas, Pierre. 1971. Pour une e´piste´mologie de l’e´ducation physique. Revue Education
Physique et Sport 110: 16–23.
Speak, Mike. 1999. China in the Modern World: 1840–1949. In: Sport and Physical
Education in China, ed. by James Riordan, 70–89. London: E and FN Spon.
Wang, C. T. 1995. The Influence of Western Natural Physical Education Thought on
Modern Chinese Physical Education. Abstracts of FISU/CESU Conference, 18th Universiade,
376–377. Fukukoa: Organizing Committee.
Wang, Zeshan. 1990. Traditional and Popular Sports. In: Sport in China, ed. by Howard
Knuttgen, Qiwei Ma and Zhong Yuan Wu, 89–105. Champaign, Illinois: Human Kinetics.
Woong Poon Yuen Fong, Christiana. 1998. The Physical Education Curriculum in
the Junior Secondary School in Hong-Kong and Guangzhou: A Comparative Study.
Master’s Thesis, University of Hong-Kong.
Physical-Education Teachers in France and China 33
The authors
Pierre Andriamampianina is the Coordinator of the Educational Co-operation
Department at the Centre International d’E´ tudes Pe´dagogiques on Re´union
Island.
Contact address: Centre International d’E´ tudes Pe´dagogiques, 117 rue du
Ge´ne´ ral Ailleret, 97430 Le Tampon, La Re´union. E-mail: andria@ciep.fr.
Azzedine Si Moussa is a Lecturer in Comparative Education at the University
of La Re´union and Associate Researcher at the Institut de Recherche en E´ ducation
in Dijon, France. His research focuses mainly on the evaluation of educational
systems from a socio-economical perspective.
Contact address: Universite´ de La Re´union, Faculte´ des Lettres et Sciences
Humaines, 15, avenue Rene´ Cassin, BP 7151 97715 St. Denis, La Re´union.
E-mail: azzedine.simoussa@univ-reunion.fr.
34 Pierre Andriamampianina and Azzedine Si Moussa