École normale supérieure
Encyclopedia
An école normale supérieure (ekɔl nɔʁmal sypeʁjœʁ) or ENS is a type of publicly funded higher education
Higher education
Higher, post-secondary, tertiary, or third level education refers to the stage of learning that occurs at universities, academies, colleges, seminaries, and institutes of technology...

 in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

. A portion of the student body who are French civil servants are called Normaliens.

The history of écoles normales supérieures goes back to 30 October 1794 (9 brumaire an III) when École normale de l'an III was established during the French Revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...

. The school was subsequently reestablished as pensionnat normal from 1808 to 1822, before being recreated in 1826 and taking the name of École normale in 1830. When institutes for primary teachers training called écoles normales were created in 1845, the word supérieure (meaning upper) was added to form the current name.

The Savary law of 1984 restructured higher education in France and classified écoles normales supérieures within Établissement public à caractère scientifique, culturel et professionnel
Établissement public à caractère scientifique, culturel et professionnel
In French law, Établissement public à caractère scientifique, culturel et professionnel refers to a formal category including more than one hundred and thirty public higher education institutes in the field of sciences, culture and professional education...

. Since January 2010, there are three ENS: the École Normale Supérieure
École Normale Supérieure
The École normale supérieure is one of the most prestigious French grandes écoles...

located in Paris, the École Normale Supérieure de Lyon
École Normale Supérieure de Lyon
The École Normale Supérieure de Lyon is a highly selective grande école located in Lyon, France. As one of France's three Écoles normales supérieures, ENS Lyon is associated with a strong French tradition of excellence and public service...

located in Lyon
Lyon
Lyon , is a city in east-central France in the Rhône-Alpes region, situated between Paris and Marseille. Lyon is located at from Paris, from Marseille, from Geneva, from Turin, and from Barcelona. The residents of the city are called Lyonnais....

 and the École Normale Supérieure de Cachan
École Normale Supérieure de Cachan
The École Normale Supérieure de Cachan is one of the most prestigious French Grandes Écoles. Like all the other Grandes Écoles, this higher education institution is not included in the mainstream framework of the French public universities...

in Cachan
Cachan
Cachan is a commune in the southern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris.The prestigious École Normale Supérieure de Cachan is located there.-Name:...

 near Paris.

History

After the suppression of the Society of Jesus in France in 1762, a debate arose on how to replace their role in education. The idea of an école normale, a place to train teachers for the secondary schools, is already mentioned in a report on education made in 1768 by Rolland, president of the Parliament of Paris.

The first école normale was established by the National Convention
National Convention
During the French Revolution, the National Convention or Convention, in France, comprised the constitutional and legislative assembly which sat from 20 September 1792 to 26 October 1795 . It held executive power in France during the first years of the French First Republic...

 in a decree dated October 30, 1794. Educated people from all parts of France were to be selected to attend the school an to subsequently return to found an école normale in their department for the education of primary schools teachers. The école normale de l'an III had renown teachers such as Laplace, Lagrange
Lagrange
La Grange literally means the barn in French. Lagrange may refer to:- People :* Charles Varlet de La Grange , French actor* Georges Lagrange , translator to and writer in Esperanto...

, and Berthollet but was actually in function during only four months, from 20 January 1795 to 19 May 1795 or in the then in use French Republican Calendar
French Republican Calendar
The French Republican Calendar or French Revolutionary Calendar was a calendar created and implemented during the French Revolution, and used by the French government for about 12 years from late 1793 to 1805, and for 18 days by the Paris Commune in 1871...

 from 1er pluviose of year III until 30 floréal of year III.

In the decree of Napoleon of March 17, 1808, the institution was re-established as pensionnat normal. The candidates most promising for administration and education roles were admitted through a competitive examination
Competitive examination
A competitive examination is an examination angwhere candidates are ranked according to their grades. If the examination is open for n positions, then the first n candidates in ranks pass, the others are rejected...

. The students could attend courses at Collège de France
Collège de France
The Collège de France is a higher education and research establishment located in Paris, France, in the 5th arrondissement, or Latin Quarter, across the street from the historical campus of La Sorbonne at the intersection of Rue Saint-Jacques and Rue des Écoles...

, Muséum d'histoire naturelle or École polytechnique
École Polytechnique
The École Polytechnique is a state-run institution of higher education and research in Palaiseau, Essonne, France, near Paris. Polytechnique is renowned for its four year undergraduate/graduate Master's program...

. At école normale, they received support from tutors for revising, laboratory experiments and teaching the art of teaching.

In 1880, Camille Sée
Camille Sée
Camille Sée was a French politician who was born in Colmar.As the pioneer of the 1880 French law which established Lycées for girls, he also created the École normale supérieure in Sèvres in 1881....

 established secondary education for girls. Subsequently, a law dated 29 July 1881 founded the École normale supérieure de jeunes filles located in Sèvres
Sèvres
Sèvres is a commune in the southwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris.The town is known for its porcelain manufacture, the Manufacture nationale de Sèvres, making the famous Sèvres porcelain, as well as being the location of the International Bureau of Weights...

.

Jules Ferry
Jules Ferry
Jules François Camille Ferry was a French statesman and republican. He was a promoter of laicism and colonial expansion.- Early life :Born in Saint-Dié, in the Vosges département, France, he studied law, and was called to the bar at Paris in 1854, but soon went into politics, contributing to...

 got a law passed on 9 August 1879 in order to force each department
Department
A department is a part of a larger organization with a specific responsibility. For the division of organizations into departments, see departmentalization.In particular:...

 to establish and fund an institution to train primary school teachers for each gender (école normale de garçons and école normale de filles). In order to train the teaching body of these schools, so-called écoles normales supérieures de l’enseignement primaire were needed. A decree dated 13 July 1880 set up the one for young women in Fontenay-aux-Roses
Fontenay-aux-Roses
Fontenay-aux-Roses is a commune in the southwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris.École Normale Supérieure was a girls school located in the area....

, and later in March 1882 the male equivalent opened in Saint-Cloud
Saint-Cloud
Saint-Cloud is a commune in the western suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris.Like other communes of the Hauts-de-Seine such as Marnes-la-Coquette, Neuilly-sur-Seine or Vaucresson, Saint-Cloud is one of the wealthiest cities in France, ranked 22nd out of the 36500 in...

.

Starting in 1891, a section for teacher training named sections normales was established in the École des Arts et métiers
École Nationale Supérieure d'Arts et Métiers
Arts et Métiers ParisTech is the French leading engineering school in the fields of mechanics and industrialization.The school trained 85,000 engineers since its foundation in 1780 by the Duke of La Rochefoucauld-Liancourt....

of Châlons-sur-Marne (decree of 11 June 1891) and in the École des Hautes Études Commerciales de Paris (decree of 21 July 1894). A decree published on 15 June 1899 organized sections normales for women. These sections normales were grouped together in 1912 into a single school which was named "École normale supérieure de l'enseignement technique" in 1934.

Academic profile

Their competitive entrance exams are extremely selective. They recruit mainly from Taupes
Classe Préparatoire aux Grandes Écoles
The classes préparatoires aux grandes écoles , commonly called classes prépas or prépas, are part of the French post-secondary education system. They consist in two very selective years , acting as a prep course with the main goal of training undergraduate students for enrolment in one of the...

, biology Prépas and Khâgne
Khâgne
The literary and humanities CPGE constitutes a type classe prépa, the two-year cycle of classes taken after the baccalauréat...

s
, even though a small number of their students (less than 10 each year) are recruited separately on the basis of highly selective exams. The students from France and other European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...

 countries are considered civil servants in training, and as such paid a monthly salary, in exchange for an agreement to serve France for 10 years, including those of their studies.

École Normale Supérieure
École Normale Supérieure
The École normale supérieure is one of the most prestigious French grandes écoles...

 is nicknamed "Ulm" from its address rue d'Ulm (Ulm
Ulm
Ulm is a city in the federal German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the River Danube. The city, whose population is estimated at 120,000 , forms an urban district of its own and is the administrative seat of the Alb-Donau district. Ulm, founded around 850, is rich in history and...

 Street). It teaches sciences and humanities. École Normale Supérieure de Lyon
École Normale Supérieure de Lyon
The École Normale Supérieure de Lyon is a highly selective grande école located in Lyon, France. As one of France's three Écoles normales supérieures, ENS Lyon is associated with a strong French tradition of excellence and public service...

 in Lyon
Lyon
Lyon , is a city in east-central France in the Rhône-Alpes region, situated between Paris and Marseille. Lyon is located at from Paris, from Marseille, from Geneva, from Turin, and from Barcelona. The residents of the city are called Lyonnais....

 also teaches sciences and humanities. École Normale Supérieure de Cachan
École Normale Supérieure de Cachan
The École Normale Supérieure de Cachan is one of the most prestigious French Grandes Écoles. Like all the other Grandes Écoles, this higher education institution is not included in the mainstream framework of the French public universities...

located in Cachan, a suburb of Paris teaches theoretical and applied sciences, engineering, social sciences, economics and management and foreign languages.

Until recently and unlike most of the other grandes écoles, the écoles normales supérieures did not award any specific diplomas (students who had completed the curriculum they had agreed to with the office of the Dean upon arrival were simply entitled to be known as "ENS Alumni" or "Normaliens"), but they keep encouraging their students to obtain university diplomas in partner institutions whilst providing extra classes and support. Many ENS students obtain more than one university diploma.
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