ABSTRACT
As the editors of this volume point out in the introduction, there is a contemporary belief amongst policy makers and many educational professionals that the concept of transition may be highly signicant in issues of social inclusion and exclusion. There is also a belief that enabling people to manage transitions more effectively is itself a possible and worthwhile policy objective with implications for achieving greater social justice. With these beliefs in mind, this chapter draws upon a study of middle-class school choices at a pivotal transition, namely that from primary to secondary schooling. Both this and the subsequent period of secondary schooling were highly managed processes. As well as revealing the nature of a particular kind of ‘transition management’, the data and analysis lead us to question the idea that such practices do anything to promote equality: indeed, they may do the very opposite.
