Our guiding principle is the presumption that education, in all its breadth and complexity, is only meaningful when it takes place in meaningful contexts of action, and so it cannot be narrowed simply to school space and time. This paper therefore suggests an approach that is more consistent with a sociology of non-school education, on the basis of which we try to understand the role of non-formal and informal learning in the construction of meanings of juvenile experience. For this we have brought to the discussion some research data collected from members of the scout movement, since this century-old organization, predominantly non-formal in nature, has developed its educational project on the basis of a belief that young people are actor-subjects in their own education. Critical consideration is given to the influence and place of the new and traditional contexts/institutions in the construction of citizenships and juvenile subjectivities.