Lina Lago

‘You know that we are not able to go to McDonald’s’: processes of doing participation in Swedish leisure time centres

ABSTRACT This study aims to answer the question of how pupils’ participation is acted within the context of Swedish leisure time centres (LTCs) through the analysis of ethnographic material from five different LTCs. The analysis took a grounded theory approach, and the results show that pupils’ participation in LTCs can be seen as an ongoing negotiation and that participation is something that needs to be worked with in everyday interactions. We identify three important processes for doing participation in LTCs – participation by negotiating, participation by initiating, and participation by choosing. Different aspects of formal and informal ways of doing participation are also of importance, and while pupils can have a greater influence in informal negotiations, this requires certain negotiating skills that not all children possess.

Pupils’ everyday transitions in school as a condition for social relations and activities in leisure time centres

Abstract This article focuses on how pupils’ everyday transitions constitute a condition for pupils’ activities and relationships, and how pupils understand and give meaning to their everyday transitions between different school settings (school and Leisure Time Centre). To examine this, we made participant observations in three different educational settings. The focus of these observations is on pupils in their everyday life in school and LTC, thereby gaining insight into the experiences of being a pupil in these settings. In regard to social relations, the changes brought about by daily transitions between educational settings create conditions for different activities and changes in the group. The changes in groups that occur in the different contexts of everyday transitions in school can be both an opportunity and an obstacle, depending on the situation and with whom pupils wish to engage in social interaction. Thus, it is clear that the transition from school to LTC often involves changes in the group, thereby changing the conditions of pupils’ opportunities to form relationships with each other.