ABSTRACT
In this chapter a number of issues are raised about the process that is commonly referred to as ‘moving’ from one stage of education to another. The purpose of the present discussion is to examine the impact of this process on learning in art and design. The particular focus of attention here is the ‘move’ from primary to secondary education that most children in the UK experience at the age of 11. This significant event is layered with both general and subject-specific expectations. An image is conjured up of a child who has climbed one curriculum ladder, being required to switch to a different (extension) ladder, to begin another ascent, rungby-rung, guided by what Schostak (2000: 42) calls the ‘safety rail’ of a ‘paranoid curriculum’, with a promise of loftier, government-imposed standards being reached.
