The significance of a school's physical environment is explored through a discussion of a metaphor used by some students in a study in Finland and England in which students characterized their schools. The "ant's nest" metaphor communicates the lack of spatial and embodied autonomy that students experience in school. (SLD)

In this paper, we draw on a cross-cultural ethnographic study conducted in two secondary schools in Helsinki (Finland), and two in London (UK). In our analysis of everyday life in schools, space is not merely a backdrop to activities that take place, it also shapes processes and activities, and spatial relations are simultaneously temporal. Here,…

Discusses the concept of democracy as a social contract between equal individuals. Argues that women's individuality is relative rather than absolute despite the formal equality of Western societies. Questions the neutral definition of pupils when students are socially, politically, or economically unequal. Explores child-centered education and…

The first day in secondary school of four groups of Finnish students entering seventh grade in two schools was analyzed in an ethnographic study focusing on initial encounters between students and teachers and how the construction, negotiation, and learning of the "profession" of being a pupil in a secondary school begins. (SLD)