Lärmiljö, frizon eller sysselsättningsarena?
En kritisk analys av fritidshemmet i en era av new public management
Leisure time centresAccountabilityCooperative discourseFlexibilityNew public managementMeaningful leisure.
In 2014, the Swedish leisure-time centres after school became widely criticized on several occasions by school authorities. The cause for its criticism was a reflection of leisure time-centres with lots of untrained staff and a lack of pedagogical aspirations. The conclusion of the criticism was that these leisure-time centres do not fulfil their potential. However, these assessments has only to a limited extent become a part of the public educational discourse in Sweden. This discourse has mainly focused on the decreasing results in the Swedish school, which has caught the attention in the media and ended up on the political agenda. The flaws in the leisure-time centres have been far more overlooked and its function has been unclear. This study explores representations of the leisure-time centres and its missions and aims. It also examines how after-school teachers and their skills, duties and attributes are represented. This has been done by studying descriptions of the leisure-time centres in three different municipalities and 154 recruitment ads for after-school teachers. The results of these data collections shows a dominant cooperative discourse, where many of the leisure-time centres and the after-school teachers most important tasks and assignments is more to be found in school activities rather than at the leisure-time centres. The conclusion of the study is that the leisure-time centres have lost its value-based core and instead its function has been integrated as a resource center in school to make sure that the aims for school is to be achieved. That has transformed the after-school teacher into a flexible employee, which constantly has to be prepared for and have a positive approach to new circumstances.