Introduction

Alienation from schooling – a not uncommon experience for some students in any age – took on a new significance for school families and school communities when the customary 'escape route' for some disenchanted students to the world of work and the rewards of employment was cut off. The two topics – alienation and transition – were now of direct interest to thousands of students, their parents and teachers, and of long term concern to an Australian society unaccustomed for two generations to taking such things seriously. Despite the fact that alienation represents a pervasive theme in analyses of Australian life, understanding of its determinants and manifestations remains quite limited. Conceptualizations of alienation have been proposed from historical, philosophical, sociological and psychological perspectives. This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book.