This paper attempts to explore some of the social processes underlying notions of normality and deviance as teachers identify and operate the boundaries of the normal social world of school and classroom. It draws from research in both Primary and Secondary schools. It will focus on teachers interpreting children, particularly in their construction or formulation of pupil identities as either 'normal' or 'deviant' others: á How do Ts construe pupils as the 'other'? á How do teachers construe or interpret pupils as others who represent examples of 'normal' or 'deviant' within the social world of the school? á In what ways do notions of 'normality' and 'deviance' impinge upon teachers' construction and interpretation of interaction in the social processes of schooling? á In schools which seek to be inclusive, what can be inferred about the processes of interpreting the other in relation to the critical boundaries of the 'normal' world?