To research the leisure-time centre

• This paper highlights a method that is supposed to describe, above all, children’s social and discursive practice in Swedish leisure-time centres. A leisure-time centre provides activities, before, during and after school, directed to children between six and twelve years old. This institution is close connected to primary school, staffed with university-educated pedagogues and supposed to give children a meaningful leisure. What meaningful leisure comprises is, however, not clearly defined in the Swedish curriculum (cf. Haglund, 2009, Klerfelt, 2007). Our theoretical point of departure origins from a social constructionist perspective, which emphasizes that reality is constructed by people who interact (Berger and Luckmann, 1966). Within this theoretical perspective a meaningful leisure in leisure-time centres is mutually constructed by staff and children in their everyday practice (cf. Fairclough and Wodak, 1997). There is a need to develop methodological tools to study how a meaningful leisure practice, defined and constituted by children and leisure-time pedagogues, could be explored. We investigate methods that make children’s perspectives visible and reflect the pedagogues’ intentions with their work. The data production consists of narrative interviews, ”walk-and-talk”-conversations and artefacts that highlight the social practice (cf. Mischler, 1986; Beach 2005). As this is a work-in-progress analysis will be carried out during fall 2010. The concluding discussion describes methodological and ethical aspects concerning the accomplished study.

Subject headings

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Utbildningsvetenskap -- Pedagogiskt arbete (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Educational Sciences -- Pedagogical Work (hsv//eng)

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Utbildningsvetenskap (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Educational Sciences (hsv//eng)

Keyword

leisure-time centre

methodology

social constructionism

narrative

“walk-and-talk”- conversation

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

kon (subject category)