Stepping back in School Age Care
Abstract
School Age Care (SAC) in Australia has seen exponential growth over the last decade as families increasingly use services to provide care for their children both before and after school. In turn, this demand for services is being challenged as SAC practitioners have to negotiate the expectations of their role and responsibilities with children in providing play activities. This small qualitative project engaged five children from a SAC service in a collaborative research venture. It was intended to examine children's experiences of play in SAC using photographic data collected by the children themselves. Their photographs ...
View more >School Age Care (SAC) in Australia has seen exponential growth over the last decade as families increasingly use services to provide care for their children both before and after school. In turn, this demand for services is being challenged as SAC practitioners have to negotiate the expectations of their role and responsibilities with children in providing play activities. This small qualitative project engaged five children from a SAC service in a collaborative research venture. It was intended to examine children's experiences of play in SAC using photographic data collected by the children themselves. Their photographs identified the natural environment and prohibited spaces as appealing play opportunities, contrary to the researchers' expectations. Overall, the findings in this study emphasise that children's perspectives are different from adults, and 'stepping back' needs to be a starting point for service providers in provisioning play opportunities in SAC. The children's sense of agency was highlighted, and the need for more in-depth investigations of their play experiences in SAC.
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View more >School Age Care (SAC) in Australia has seen exponential growth over the last decade as families increasingly use services to provide care for their children both before and after school. In turn, this demand for services is being challenged as SAC practitioners have to negotiate the expectations of their role and responsibilities with children in providing play activities. This small qualitative project engaged five children from a SAC service in a collaborative research venture. It was intended to examine children's experiences of play in SAC using photographic data collected by the children themselves. Their photographs identified the natural environment and prohibited spaces as appealing play opportunities, contrary to the researchers' expectations. Overall, the findings in this study emphasise that children's perspectives are different from adults, and 'stepping back' needs to be a starting point for service providers in provisioning play opportunities in SAC. The children's sense of agency was highlighted, and the need for more in-depth investigations of their play experiences in SAC.
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Journal Title
Journal of Playwork Practice
Volume
1
Issue
2
Subject
Social Work not elsewhere classified
Social Work