Book excerpt: This fascinating volume compares the experience of young learners in England, France and Denmark in order to examine the relationship between national educational cultures, individual biographies and classroom practices in creating the context for learning. It explores how secondary schools in three very different education systems work to develop the aptitudes and attitudes conducive to lifelong learning in conditions of complexity, uncertainty and multiple change. By drawing upon a rich data-set including questionnaires, individual and group interviews and classroom observation, the book gives a voice to young learners in the three countries. Through detailed case studies and quotations it examines their concerns with schooling, with teachers, with motivation and achievement and explores the very different social contexts which influence their engagement with learning. This book will be an essential resource for researchers, practitioners, students and policy-makers and all those committed to understanding the relationship between culture and learning and to improving secondary education.