Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book discusses a description of pupil experience from play group to school leaver. It provides a sense of the cumulative effect of schooling as the young person grows toward adulthood. The book focuses on pupil experience of schooling, identifying the relatively invariant structures of their experience of being young, growing up with others and being at school. It also focuses on the process by which pupils are suspended from school, showing how documents written by teachers are later re-interpreted as evidence supporting suspension. The book considers the raison d'etre of secondary schooling - the exam. It shows that pupils start school as experts in their self education, exploring their capacities, trying out new skills, enjoying all the feelings which the growth of knowledge brings.