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,…

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)