ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the impact that special schooling has in shaping the experiences and identities of a group of young people inside a special school for children with severe learning difficulties. It describes the socialising practices of special schooling by focusing on the transitional period of a group of young people about to leave school. The chapter explores the ways in which pupils manage the processes of identity transformation and how these are shaped by the practices of special schooling. It provides a description of the type of future that Afton Lodge staff anticipated for their students and the how the Outreach curriculum was influenced and shaped by this. The chapter suggests strongly that everyone is prepared, behind the scenes, for the arrival of students, who then walk onto the stage unaware of their exceptional presence or the meaning others attached to their identities.
