The role of “children’s interests” in leisure-time pedagogy: The case of children’s digital media interests

• The concept of children’s interests is central within leisure-time pedagogy. For instance, the Swedish curriculum states that education in the leisure-time center should take as its point of departure “students’ needs, interests and experiences, but also make sure that students’ are challenged continuously by inspiring them to make new discoveries” (Swedish national agency for education, 2019: 22). In this paper, we aim to show how this formulation actually makes possible any approach towards children’s interests in leisure-time teacher’s work.To show this, we focus on how leisure-time teachers approach one specific part of children’s interests, namely children’s digital media interests. That is, the media children select spontaneously when they are free to choose, such as social media platforms and digital games. We analyze the ways in which leisure-time teachers integrate children’s digital media interests in the centers (or not) and how they argue for their various approaches.The study is based on in-depth interviews with 21 leisure-time teachers working in the South of Sweden. As theoretical framework we use domestication theory (Haddon 2016), which focuses on how people integrate media technology as part of specific social contexts, and how values and norms contribute to shaping media use.The results show how teachers approach children’s digital media interests in four main ways: by rejecting, restricting, instrumentalizing or incorporating them. This variation shows how the formulation in the curriculum mentioned above actually makes possible any approach towards children’s interests. It is possible to argue for a complete rejection of children’s digital media interests with the argument that they should provide other experiences than students get in their homes, but also for an incorporation of children’s digital media interests, based on for instance the argument that children should be able to decide on their “free time”.This paper is relevant to Nordic educational research as it discusses core concepts within leisure-time pedagogy and problematizes teachers’ work.ReferencesHaddon L (2016) The domestication of complex media repertoires. In: Sandvik K, Thorhauge AM and Valtysson B (eds) The Media and the Mundane. Göteborg: Nordicom, 17-30. Swedish national agency for education (2019). Available at: https://www.skolverket.se/download/18.35e3960816b708a596c3965/1567674229968/pdf4206.pdf

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