Leisure-time Centres Research Articles

Peer Victimization among pupils in leisure-time centres: teachers’ reflections on their professional work

ABSTRACT Research has shown that peer victimization and bullying are common phenomena among pupils in different educational institutions, yet we know little about these issues in the educational context of the leisure-time centre. This study addresses leisure-time teachers’ reflections on their work regarding peer victimization in the everyday practice of Swedish leisure-time centres. Methodologically, the study is based on written reflections from about a hundred teachers who have been participating in a continuing professional course. The results indicate that leisure-time teachers hold a quite unique professional position within the school organization due to their opportunities to work with pupils in various contexts during the day and their collaborations with other staff within the school organization. Yet the results also reveal a professional culture and material context where collaborations between different professionals are quite limited. The professional culture does not always support the leisure-time centre teachers’ wish to have more opportunities to meet and discuss different issues with other staff members and to create a joint platform for collaboration and understanding about victimized pupils. It is hoped that this study will give professionals and policy makers new insights into how to make the leisure-time centre a safe and secure educational setting.

„Það er ekki til ein uppskrift“ Fyrsta ár flóttabarna í leikskólum í þremur sveitarfélögum á Íslandi

Árið 2016 kom hópur sýrlenskra kvótaflóttafjölskyldna til Íslands frá Líbanon og settist að í þremur sveitarfélögum (Stjórnarráð Íslands, 2019). Markmið rannsóknarinnar, sem hófst síðla árs 2016 og er langtímarannsókn, eru að athuga reynslu flóttabarna og foreldra þeirra af leik- og grunnskólastarfi og frístundastarfi; og að athuga reynslu stjórnenda og kennara í skólum og frístundaheimilum af móttöku barnanna, skipulagi náms og samstarfi við foreldrana. Í greininni er fjallað um þær niðurstöður rannsóknarinnar er snúa að reynslu starfsfólks leikskóla af móttöku og starfi með flóttabörnum úr hópnum og foreldrum þeirra fyrsta árið. Fræðilegur grunnur rannsóknarinnar er í gagnrýnum sjónarhornum á menntun og skólastarf (Banks, 2013; May og Sleeter, 2010; Nieto, 2010) og fjöltyngismenntun til félagslegs réttlætis (Chumak-Horbatsch, 2012; Cummins, 2004; Skutnabb-Kangas, Phillipson, Mohanty og Panda, 2009). Gagnrýnin sjónarhorn á menntun og skólastarf og fjöltyngismenntun til félagslegs réttlætis eru mikilvæg tæki til að varpa gagnrýnu ljósi á reynslu barna af menntun og leggja til umbætur. Gagna var aflað með hálfstöðluðum viðtölum við starfsfólk sex leikskóla. Niðurstöður benda til þess að börnunum vegni vel í leikskólunum og samstarf við foreldra gangi almennt vel, ekki síst vegna góðs undirbúnings fyrir komu flóttabarnanna. Það eru þó ærin verkefni sem leikskólarnir standa frammi fyrir, og snerta m.a. ólík tungumál og menningu.

”Jag har oftast ingen att leka med”: Social exkludering på fritidshem

This study examines pupils’ social relations and especially social exclusion in leisure-time centres (LTCs). Based on categorization of the material from the field, exclusion has emerged as a key a ...

Promoting social learning in the Swedish leisure time centre

ABSTRACTSwedish leisure time centres (LTCs) are included in the Swedish Education Act and are used by almost every pupil in the age range of 6–9 years. They are governed by national policy documents with a certain emphasis on social learning. This article aims to highlight the LTC staff’s perspectives on their work of promoting social learning in the Swedish LTC. The article is based on a qualitative study, with data from group interviews with 21 LTC staff. The data are analysed with an abductive approach, with Bronfenbrenner’s bioecological systems theory as a theoretical point of departure. Our results show that the work is directed both by the staff’s beliefs and by the structural conditions of the activities, which the staff seldom feel able to influence. This causes frustration among staff and, owing to a lack of didactic reflections, social learning among pupils is not optimised. We argue that the LTC needs to be further explored, at the municipal and local management levels, to enable optimised social learning for pupils in the LTC.

Compensating for unequal childhoods: practitioners’ reflections on social injustice in leisure-time centres

ABSTRACT In Sweden and other countries, children's everyday lives and educational opportunities depend on their living conditions and class backgrounds. The current study examined the manifestation of issues of social injustice and unequal childhoods in the daily practices of leisure-time centres in Sweden. The empirical data were derived from the written reflections of practitioners enrolled in a continuing education course. The results indicate that leisure-time centres play an important role by compensating for unequal childhoods and other inequalities in the society. The practitioners discussed the importance of the centres’ maintaining supplies of clothing and equipment for children who lack these essentials for participation in outdoor activities. This compensation for unequal childhoods was also expressed through the provision of a free snack every afternoon and free meals during excursions.

The Presence of Pedagogy and Care in Leisure-time Centres’ Local Documents: Leisure-time Teachers’ Documented Reflections

MANY COUNTRIES OFFER younger school children school-age child care. However, the governance, organisation and practical activities and its relation to education and care differs within and between countries. In Scandinavia, the concept of Educare acknowledges the need for emotional, social and intellectual aspects of the holistic view of learning. The Swedish leisure-time centres (LTC) designed for younger school children have, by tradition, an identity that strongly relates to aspects of care. This study aims to gain knowledge of leisure-time teachers’ (LTT) reflections on how pedagogy and care appear in LTCs’ local documents. After examining the written reflections of 22 groups of LTTs involved in a professional development course, it can be argued that care is fundamental to the LTC activities; however, this notion is simultaneously challenged by neoliberal tendencies.

Why use board games in leisure-time centres? Prominent staff discourses and described subject positions when playing with children

Board games are traditionally seen as an important Swedish leisure-time centre activity, but research regarding this activity is sparse. This study aims to fill part of that void through a web survey directed to members in a closed Facebook group focusing on leisure-time centres. Fifty-five informants’ answers were analysed using critical discourse analysis to find why staff at leisure-time centres use board games. The article also discusses the subject positions the staff use when playing board games with the children. The results reveal four prominent discourses, which were termed: supporting social structure, learning social competence, substituting digital games, and learning cognitive abilities. The results also reveal three subject positions while playing board games: developer, supervising judge, and participant. The informants’ discourses regarding their reasons for using board games and the positions the staff settled into while playing board games drew mostly from a social pedagogical arena. However, features that emphasize traditional school related content are also evident.

Leisure-time centres for 6–9 year old children in Iceland; policies, practices and challenges

Bibliography: Palsdottir, Kolbrun/Kristjansdottir, Steingerður: Leisure-time centres for 6–9 year old children in Iceland; policies, practices and challenges, IJREE, Vol. 5, Issue 2-2017, pp. 211-216. https://doi.org/10.3224/ijree.v5i2.08

“Betwixt and Between”: Leisure-time Teachers and the Construction of Professional Identities

ABSTRACTIn 2014, a newly formed group of teachers graduated from Swedish universities. In addition to their qualification as leisure-time pedagogues, their degree includes teaching practical/aesthetical subjects in compulsory school. This group of teachers thus has to relate to dual professional identities and to maintain a balance between the socially oriented leisure-time centres and a goal- and results-driven school. In this article we describe their first two years after graduation, trying to get hold of their negotiation of professional identities and orientation in the professional landscape. Results shows that the graduates try to balance own ideals and hybrid professional intentions against traditional professional identities and labour market conditions and that position in a liminal phase might be crucial for the outcome.

‘You know that we are not able to go to McDonald’s’: processes of doing participation in Swedish leisure time centres

ABSTRACTThis study aims to answer the question of how pupils’ participation is acted within the context of Swedish leisure time centres (LTCs) through the analysis of ethnographic material from five different LTCs. The analysis took a grounded theory approach, and the results show that pupils’ participation in LTCs can be seen as an ongoing negotiation and that participation is something that needs to be worked with in everyday interactions. We identify three important processes for doing participation in LTCs – participation by negotiating, participation by initiating, and participation by choosing. Different aspects of formal and informal ways of doing participation are also of importance, and while pupils can have a greater influence in informal negotiations, this requires certain negotiating skills that not all children possess.

Leisure-time centres: social pedagogical tradition in educational practice

ABSTRACTThis article is positioned in the context of a discussion about an increasing focus on quality in education. The aim of the article is to explore discourses enacted in Systematic Quality Work (SQW) in municipalities and leisure-time centres. In Sweden, SQW comes within the statutory obligations of municipals and leisure-time centres and constitutes a significant part of teachers’ work. The article explores how local policy-makers, a principal, and two teachers enact SQW policy and transform it into practice. The findings are discussed as recontextualized discourses, norms, and traditions in the various actors’ enactment of SQW in discursive practices. Educational discourse is recontextualized in the studied municipalities, highlighting the norms according to routines and models of SQW in compulsory schools. When SQW is recontextualized in the leisure-time centre, a social pedagogical discourse that highlights children’s social and relational learning is reproduced.

Pupils’ everyday transitions in school as a condition for social relations and activities in leisure time centres

This article focuses on how pupils’ everyday transitions constitute a condition for pupils’ activities and relationships, and how pupils understand and give meaning to their everyday transitions between different school settings (school and Leisure Time Centre). To examine this, we made participant observations in three different educational settings. The focus of these observations is on pupils in their everyday life in school and LTC, thereby gaining insight into the experiences of being a pupil in these settings. In regard to social relations, the changes brought about by daily transitions between educational settings create conditions for different activities and changes in the group. The changes in groups that occur in the different contexts of everyday transitions in school can be both an opportunity and an obstacle, depending on the situation and with whom pupils wish to engage in social interaction. Thus, it is clear that the transition from school to LTC often involves changes in the group, thereby changing the conditions of pupils’ opportunities to form relationships with each other.

Learning Environments in Swedish Leisure-time Centres: (In)equality, ‘Schooling’, and Lack of Independence

The purpose of this study is to describe and analyse how teachers perceive the internal learning environment at Swedish leisure-time centres and set it in relation to steering documents. The empiri ...

A Web Survey on Learning Environments and Staff in Swedish Leisure-Time Centres as a Starting Point for a Nordic Research Network and International Cooperation

A Web Survey on Learning Environments and Staff in Swedish Leisure-Time Centres as a Starting Point for a Nordic Research Network and International Cooperation

What is Participation? Pedagogues’ Interpretative Repertoires and Ideological Dilemmas Regarding Children’s Participation in Swedish Leisure-time Centres

Abstract: The aim of the article is to explore how pedagogues in Swedish leisure-time centres interpret and make sense of what may be meant by children’s participation. We also focus on ambivalences and competing interpretations of participation and how pedagogues argue for or against divergent interpretations. The material consists of 18 digitally recorded reflection meetings in 6 leisure-time centres. The analyses reveal three interpretative patterns, or in other words, interpretative repertoires of participation, these being 1) formal democracy, 2) making individual choices and 3) responsibility. Ambivalences and competing interpretations concern, in the first place, the interpretation of participation as individual choice versus adult governance and compulsory activities. The arguments used refer to cultural values such as the value of countryside experiences, children’s developmental needs, professional commitment and children’s best interests. The severity of the clashing ideas is obvious as no working consensus is achieved.

Confirming and resisting an underdog position – leisure-time teachers dealing with a new practice

The article focuses on how leisure-time teachers (LtT) in Sweden both confirm and resist the array of new demands related to leisure-time centres (LtC). The data consist of interviews with six LtTs. The results are interpreted as representing different parts of the LtT's professionalism and show that the LtTs through their tellings constructs certain children, problems and solutions as a response to the demands in their work, thereby both confirming and resisting an underdog position. By constructing a manageable child they legitimise their professionalism and vice versa: constructing a child they are not capable of handling underlines their work conditions and offers a response to the discussion of insufficient quality, thereby confirming the low status of LtTs.

Learning Environments at Leisure-Time Centres in Sweden: A Comprehensive Survey of Staff Perceptions

The purpose of this study is to describe and analyse how leisure-time teachers perceive learning environments in general and especially the premises at Swedish leisure-time centres. Data are based on a national, comprehensive survey of all leisure-time teachers’ perceptions. The theoretical framework is based on research on leisure-time centres and learning environments. The methodological approach involves both a descriptive statistical analysis and a qualitative content analysis. The results show a fragmented and paradoxical picture in terms of learning environments at leisure-time centres. On the one hand, the physical environment is characterised by small rooms, in some cases outdated and not suited for the purpose, to large groups of students and, in many cases, shared premises with the school. On the other hand, a majority of the staff say that learning environments are actively used to teach children social skills, how to establish good relations, friendship and equality. Parents’ and children’s opportunities to influence these learning environments are not regarded as a high priority. The main conclusion of the study is that activities housed in the school context and on its terms face congestion and many of these physical learning environments are in need of major improvements, especially considering all the policy documents and research on good learning environments. For Nordic educational research, this is an extremely important knowledge supplement since this field lacks ample research. For activities at leisure-time centres, these results have implications for policy decisions and educational development.Keywords: Leisure-time centres, environments, leisure-time teachers, perceptions, comprehensive survey-----Bibliography: Boström, Lena/Hörnell, Assar/Frykland, Marie: Learning Environments at Leisure-Time Centres, IJREE, Vol. 3, Issue 1-2015, pp. 5–23. http://dx.doi.org/10.3224/ijree.v3i1.19578

Everyday practice at the Sunflower: the staff's representations and governing strategies as contributions to the order of discourse

Swedish leisure-time centres were formerly part of Swedish social and family policies but were transferred to an educational context in the 1990s. This transfer was accentuated by both the Education Act of 2010 and the new teacher training established in 2011, which also included education particularly directed for leisure-time centres. The state's intention with this discursive shift was to highlight education and learning within the activity in a more distinct way. This article is based on an ethnography-inspired study at one leisure-time centre called the Sunflower. The data are based on six weeks of field work including participating observations, field notes and walk-and-talk conversations. The study takes its point of departure from representations by staff concerning what they emphasise regarding the centre's activity, how these representations are related to each other and which strategies staff members use when talking about and monitoring the pupils’ activities. The results show the strong presence of older traditions concerning values and practices regarding the performance at work: supporting children with good care, stressing the importance of children's free play and using a peripheral subject position during work. The results also show that a stress on the child-to-staff ratio as circumscribing the activity which is enhanced by the pupils misallocated age distribution.

SPECIAL NEEDS EDUCATION PERSPECTIVES IN THE PRACTICE OF LEISURE-TIME CENTRES

This study carried out at Linnaeus University in the spring of 2012 where students in a special needs education module problematised the teacher’s mission with the focus on being able to face differences among children in a pedagogical activity. The aim of the study was to make visible how the teaching and learning of values and attitudes can be promoted in educational practice, as well as to examine student views on including values for leisure-time centre work as stated in the target documents. In the study the students were required to observe activities primarily from the perspective of special needs education concepts referred to as categorical and relational. The results of the observations point to a number of concrete professional pedagogical actions that can be linked to a relational special pedagogy approach. Key words: leisure-time centres, leisure-time pedagogue students, normative method, special needs.

Presentation of Research on School-Age Educare in Sweden

In this article a background to the growing need of establishing school-age educare as a field of research in Sweden is presented. Firstly a short review of the history of the school-age educare is given, followed by a description of how the activity is organized today. Some examples of studies produced within this field are presented. Both accomplished studies and ongoing research are given account for. The article concludes with actions suggested for covering existing gaps of research.Keywords: School-age educare, leisure-time centres, extended education, children’s perspectives, qualitative research-----Bibliography: Klerfelt, Anna/Haglund, Björn: Presentation of Research on School-Age Educare in Sweden, IJREE, Vol. 2, Issue 1-2014, pp. 45-62. https://doi.org/10.3224/ijree.v2i1.19533