Children’s participation and leisure possibilities on an institutionalized leisure arena : The Swedish School-Age Educare Centre as an example

• Children’s leisure is increasingly seen as recourse with the potential to address a range of issues. If children use their leisure in useful and productive ways, and if the leisure is organized in ways that provides security, stable frameworks, and meaningful content, it is considered to fulfil an important function both for children and society. In the Swedish context, out of school activities for younger school children (ages 6 to 12) is organized in School-age educare Centres (SAEC), a kind of activity that is organized within school but have the assignment to work with children’s leisure, social relations, education, and care. The SAEC can be described as an institutional leisure arena. In the chapter, such institutionalized leisure is problematized focusing on how children have influence over their activities in relation to the institutional setting. The results show that there is room for children’s influence and a broad understanding of what a meaningful leisure time is, which means that children are taking an active role in challenging, maintaining, and ‘doing’ the institution. At the same time, influence is challenged by SAECs’ conditions, for example an increased focus on learning, and there is a risk that children’s subjective experience of meaningfulness is lost

Subject headings

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Utbildningsvetenskap (hsv//swe)

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

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Annan samhällsvetenskap -- Tvärvetenskapliga studier inom samhällsvetenskap (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Other Social Sciences -- Social Sciences Interdisciplinary (hsv//eng)

Keyword

Institutionalized leisure; Children’s leisure; School-age educare Centres; Meaningful leisure; Child participation

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