‘Doing transitions’ in education

Abstract

According to an interactionist perspective, educational trajectories are neither structurally determined nor are they the result of individual (rational) choice. Instead, they emerge from complex negotiation processes between young people and intervening others, particularly teachers and parents, and imply different levels of action and meaning-making. This introduction first presents the overall approach of the European project, Governance of Educational Trajectories in Europe, that analyzes educational trajectories from a life course and governance perspective. Second, it introduces the key concepts cross-cutting the articles in this issue such as transitions, gate-keepers vs. significant others, cooling out, and decision-making before presenting a summary outline of them.

Keywords:

• transitions
• life course
• educational trajectories
• biography
• qualitative multilevel analysis