The Lisbon commitment for a European knowledge society together with the subsequently implemented policy of lifelong learning and social inclusion has significantly affected the German educational system and its teaching practices. This article examines the impact of these policy reforms on educational work in Germany through an analysis of the career narratives of workers in school-to-work transition programmes, career guidance activities and training and education programmes for long-term unemployed who are constantly negotiating the boundary zone between work and education. This qualitative analysis is contrasted with an analytical description of the meso-level reconfigurations in the framing of school-to-work transition.