Research topic and aim

The Swedish School-age educare works on basis of a social and relational approach where diversity and variation are taken for granted. The School Act (Skollagen, 2010: 800) and the curriculum (Skolverket, 2019) emphasize the school-age educare activities in group-oriented working methods and additionally, the school-age educare need to take into account the student's individual interests and needs. The curriculum describes areas of knowledge which the school-age educare has to consider in order to be a compliment the school and contributes to the student's development of knowledge requirements. The Education Act also describes how the work with students in need of special support should include activities in school-age educare. Earlier research elucidates how school-age educare ends up in a resistance/cross pressure/dilemma between the school and the parents in school-age educare. Research also indicates that there is a gap between how to understand the intention of the governing documents in the pedagogical context. It is expected teachers' work in school-age educare should be based on a relational, group-oriented approach, while at the same time supporting each individual's knowledge development, interests, and needs.

The purpose of the present study is to investigate whether there is a conflict between the traditional relationship-oriented approach used in school-age educare and the “new” knowledge-oriented approach, which may lead to that teachers in school-age educare being “forced” to categorize students.

Methodology and design

Bronfenbrenner's ecological system theory is used to study how teachers in Swedish school-age educare interact with special education teachers in schools. A survey with open-ended questions to teachers in school-age educare and to special education teachers in schools was conducted.

Conclusions 

The results show that on the, by Bronfenbrenner called Exo-system level, the teachers in school-age educare support special support teachers in school with assessments of students' difficulties or needs. At the meso-system level, the School-age educare receive support and advice from the special education teachers. Teachers in School-age educare also perceive that, at the micro-system level, the students experience less pressure and demands to perform in the school-age educare than in school.