The concept of democratization of the school system: elaboration and application of a typology

The concept of democratization of thr school system has not received thorou gh intellectual scrutiny considering the social and especially political im portance that is attached to the notion. particularly in France. The terms currently used to define the modalities of democratization are in effect pa rtial. This article sets out to show that democratization of the school sys tem can he analyzed by applying three modalities, qualified as much less th an equalizing much greater than, much less than uniform much greater than a nd much less than segregative much greater than. The typology thus defined is then applied in a study of the teaching of the first educational cycle a t the national level and of second educational cycle in the Academy (educat ion region) of Rennes. Depending on the variables and cycles selected, the author concluder for a uniform or segregative democratization of the school system during thr period under review.