Programming for Older Children in School Age Care: Adult and Child Engagement with Developmental Pedagogies

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Bibliographic Details
Title: Programming for Older Children in School Age Care: Adult and Child Engagement with Developmental Pedagogies
Language: English
Authors: Bruce Hurst (ORCID 0000-0003-4238-384X)
Source: Global Studies of Childhood. 2024 14(2):140-155.
Availability: SAGE Publications. 2455 Teller Road, Thousand Oaks, CA 91320. Tel: 800-818-7243; Tel: 805-499-9774; Fax: 800-583-2665; e-mail: journals@sagepub.com; Web site: https://sagepub.com
Peer Reviewed: Y
Page Count: 16
Publication Date: 2024
Document Type: Journal Articles
Reports - Research
Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Preadolescents, After School Programs, Child Caregivers, Space Classification, Educational Resources, Program Development
Geographic Terms: Australia
DOI: 10.1177/20436106231156467
ISSN: 2043-6106
Abstract: How to work with older children has been ongoing question in Australian School Age Care (SAC) for over 30 years. Children aged 10-12 years are often spoken of as a problematic Other whose pose a risk to the younger children who attend SAC in higher proportions. This article aims to address the gap in research about what practices might work with this age group. It draws on a qualitative study conducted with SAC practitioners and older children who attend SAC. In semi-structured interviews, practitioners were asked about what strategies they employed with older children. These strategies are then viewed in relation to the perspectives of older children who were consulted via participatory methods and ethnography about what good SAC might look like. The research explores two approaches that draw on developmental knowledges, the use of separate spaces and resources, and a role called apprentice educator. Whilst older children appear to value strategies like age-segregated spaces and resources, they are less likely to take up adult-like, apprentice educator roles curated for them by practitioners. Older children's responses to these strategies can be understood as powerful acts around developmental discourses that construct and reconstruct the category of older child in SAC.
Abstractor: As Provided
Entry Date: 2024
Accession Number: EJ1427467
Database: ERIC
Description
Abstract:How to work with older children has been ongoing question in Australian School Age Care (SAC) for over 30 years. Children aged 10-12 years are often spoken of as a problematic Other whose pose a risk to the younger children who attend SAC in higher proportions. This article aims to address the gap in research about what practices might work with this age group. It draws on a qualitative study conducted with SAC practitioners and older children who attend SAC. In semi-structured interviews, practitioners were asked about what strategies they employed with older children. These strategies are then viewed in relation to the perspectives of older children who were consulted via participatory methods and ethnography about what good SAC might look like. The research explores two approaches that draw on developmental knowledges, the use of separate spaces and resources, and a role called apprentice educator. Whilst older children appear to value strategies like age-segregated spaces and resources, they are less likely to take up adult-like, apprentice educator roles curated for them by practitioners. Older children's responses to these strategies can be understood as powerful acts around developmental discourses that construct and reconstruct the category of older child in SAC.
ISSN:2043-6106
DOI:10.1177/20436106231156467