Gendered aspects of Leisure-time teachers’ care – social and physical dimensions

Abstract

This article aims to gain knowledge on how gender and profession are accounted for and expressed in leisure-time teachers' (LtTs) work in Sweden, with a specific focus on the caring aspects of the profession. Our results show that LtTs take up various positions in navigating between aspects connected to managerialism and external auditing as well as trust and internal valuation. We argue that the need exists for an expanded understanding of care in order to recognise and reward various gendered actions and activities in teachers' caring orientation. The article provides knowledge to both researchers and practitioners on gendered nuances of care that by tradition have been connected to women.

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

“…The Swedish leisure-time centre has played an important role in the creation of more equal childhoods because of its accessibility and its mission of stimulating children's holistic development and learning. Traditionally, the promotion of children's well-being and identity development has been central to the work of leisure-time centres, and the caring orientation has been a distinguishing quality of the staff (Hjalmarsson et al, 2017). The leisure-time teachers' competence to handle carerelated tasks can be described in terms of a specific care ethic, which comprises three elements: knowledge of care ethical values, knowledge of and ability to respond to the demands and expectations of colleagues and parents, and an ethical approach evidenced by the ability to adapt to situations that occur in everyday practice (Hjalmarsson & Löfdahl, 2014).…”

Leisure-time teachers’ reflections on systematic quality work: approaches and challenges

“…According to Lolich and Lynch (2017), claiming the distortedness by applying managerial principles that focus output and profit in care-orientated contexts, the LtTs might have difficulty measuring some of their care-orientated work and the professional considerations included. This difficulty actualises the tension between a controlling discourse of quality and a social pedagogical discourse (Lager, 2015), and the LtTs' navigation between tasks that connect to internal valuation and external estimation (Hjalmarsson et al, 2017). Further, one could argue that the demands for working with documentation mirror the schoolification of ECEC settings (e.g.…”

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

“…There is a lack of research focusing on bullying and victimization in Swedish leisuretime centres. Yet contemporary research suggests that, with a history of strong emphasis on safeguarding children's well-being, relationships and security in leisure-time centres, the leisure-time teacher's professional identity and competence have to a large extent been developed and focussed on supporting and stimulating children's holistic learning and development (Hjalmarsson, Löfdahl Hultman, and Warin 2017). The leisure-time teacher's ethical skill in handling care-related tasks has been described in terms of an overall skill comprising knowledge about values related to the ethics of care, the ability to meet the expectations and demands for care in this educational setting and the professional's ethical approach.…”