Drawing on cross-cultural qualitative research in comprehensive (primary
and middle) schools in Finland and Korea, this article explores
students’ peer relationships as well as tensions and negotiations that
occur between student agency and school control. Based on school
observations and interviews with students and teachers, this article
illuminates the meaning of friendship and patterns of peer interactions
among students, both within and between genders. It also reveals how
school control and student agency manifest in the issues of space, time,
and appearance. The findings imply that students develop gendered
identities and roles through peer relations and socialisation in school.
This article also interprets sociocultural uniqueness and commonality
concerning interdependency and independency observed in peer
relationships. Finally, the article illustrates that while control over
the appearance of students seems to be different in each country, the
students’ school lives are tightly controlled by regulations of time and
space in both countries.