This thesis investigates the impact of after-school programs on youth in rural communities. A case study of the Fusion Youth Activity and Technology Centre in Ingersoll, Ontario was conducted to explore the relationship between program participation and the development experiences of youth participants ages 12 to 18 years. The Youth Experience Survey created by Hansen and Larson (2002) was selected for this study to assess the positive and negative youth development experiences of Fusion youth participants, measuring experiences within conceptual domains of Identity Work, Initiative, Basic Skills, Positive Relationships, Team Work and Social Skills, Adult Networks and Social Capital, and Negative Experiences. The study found that all domains measuring positive youth development experiences were positively correlated, with the strongest experiences associated with the domains of Identity Work, Basic Skills, Positive Relationships, and Team Work and Social Skills. In addition, the study concluded that participants’ youth development significantly increased with duration of membership and intensity of participation at Fusion.

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A recent trend shows that activity levels in children are declining while obesity levels are increasing. To address this problem, after school programs are being introduced to increase activity levels in preadolescents and promote healthy lifestyles. Existing studies have suggested that a better understanding of the psychosocial influences on physical activity (PA) during preadolescence could assist efforts in school settings to promote lifelong PA. This study used a sample of third grade students to investigate the relationships between the psychosocial correlates of PA, Gender, Extracurricular PA Participation, Intention to Be Physically Active, and BMI among third grade children. Results indicated that Gender, Beliefs (about the consequences of being active), and Self-Efficacy were associated with Extra Curricular PA Participation while Beliefs and Self-Efficacy were related to Intention to Be Physically Active. This suggests that third grade children’s Extra Curricular PA Participation and Intentions to Be Physically Active can be improved by enhancing children’s Self-Efficacy and Beliefs about the consequences of being active. / Fisher Institute for Wellness and Gerontology

The study aims to examine some teachers' and students' conceptions of drama in schools and in after-school centers. “Educator” in this study refers to after-school leaders and drama teachers.  The study is limited to three educators and three students at a public school in the Stockholm area. This study considers the following questions: How do educators use drama in schools and in after-school centers? How do students perceive drama in schools and in after-school centers? What importance do educators think that drama has for students? The study draws on the socio-cultural theory on teamwork and social interaction. The survey contains interviews and is inspired by the phenomenographic approach as a method. The results show that teachers use drama in different ways, oftentimes integrated with other school subjects, particularly with Swedish. Students feel that they have use of what they learn during drama in other school subjects. Both educators and students perceive participation and cooperation (including the fact that students help each other during the drama process and that students can learn from each other in drama lessons), to be important elements of drama teaching. The teachers and one of the students feel that through drama, students become bolder. Two out of the three teachers believe that through drama, knowledge becomes practical and is really learned by the students. By working with conflict-resolution in drama, students practice how to express their opinion in front of others, gain understanding of each other’s differences, and put themselves in other people’s situations in order to - through communication - learn how to resolve conflicts themselves. One of the teachers perceives the social training that occurs through drama to be significant. The educators believe that students are strengthened in their self-esteem and self-confidence through drama, and that through an inner experience, increase their self-awareness. The educators and students see drama as a forum in which students can use and develop their imagination and creativity. / Undersökningen syftar till att undersöka några pedagogers och elevers uppfattningar om drama i skolan och på fritidshemmet. Med pedagog menas i denna undersökning fritidspedagoger och dramapedagoger. Undersökningen begränsas till tre pedagoger och tre elever på en kommunal skola i Stockholmsområdet. Denna undersökning utgår från följande frågeställningar: Hur använder pedagogerna sig av drama i skolan och på fritidshemmet? Hur uppfattar eleverna drama i skolan och på fritidshemmet? Vilken betydelse anser pedagogerna att drama har för eleverna? Undersökningen stödjer sig på den sociokulturella teorin med samspel och social interaktion. Undersökningen innehåller kvalitativa intervjuer och är inspirerad av den fenomenografiska ansatsen som metod. Resultatet visar att pedagogerna använder sig av drama på olika sätt, ofta integrerat med andra skolämnen och då framförallt med svenskämnet. Eleverna uppfattar att de har användning av det de lär sig på dramat i andra skolämnen. Både pedagogerna och eleverna uppfattar delaktigheten och samarbetet, bl.a. att eleverna hjälper varandra under dramaprocessen och att eleverna kan lära av varandra i dramat, som viktiga delar av dramaundervisningen. Pedagogerna och en av eleverna anser att genom drama blir eleverna modigare. Genom drama anser två av de tre pedagogerna att kunskapen blir praktisk och verkligen lärs in hos eleverna. Genom att i drama arbeta med konflikthantering får eleverna träna på att uttrycka sin åsikt framför andra, få förståelse för varandras olikheter och sätta sig in i andras situation för att genom kommunikation kunna lösa konflikter själva. En av pedagogerna uppfattar den sociala träning som uppstår genom dramat som betydelsefull. Pedagogerna anser att eleverna stärks i sin självkänsla och i sitt självförtroende genom dramat och genom en inre upplevelse ökar sin självkännedom. Pedagogerna och eleverna ser drama som ett forum där eleverna får användning för och kan utveckla sin fantasi och kreativitet.

The purpose of this study was to gain a clearer picture of how after-school-care teachers’ work with fundamental values in after-school care, both practically and theoretically based on the curriculum Lgr 11. I wanted to acquire a broader understanding of the school's core values and what kinds of tools teachers used to cope with their task. I proceeded with two questions: How does after-school care proactively work with core values based on gender, ethnicity and class? How does the work on value issues at after-school care centers compare with Lgr 11? In my study, I used literature studies and a qualitative analysis of five interviews with afterschool care teachers. I came to the conclusion that the fundamental values were difficult to interpret and that the majority of the interviewed after-school care teachers adapted the core values after the schools "needs". Keywords: values, after-school care, standards, development and learning / Syftet med den här undersökningen var att få en tydligare bild över hur fritidspedagoger arbetar med värdegrundsarbetet, både praktiskt och teoretiskt utifrån läroplanen Lgr 11. Jag ville införskaffa en bredare förståelse om skolans värdegrund och vilka verktyg som används av pedagogerna för att klara av uppgiften. Jag utgick från två frågeställningar i arbetet: Hur arbetar fritidshemen i förebyggande syfte med värdegrundsfrågor utifrån genus, etnicitet och klass? Hur förhåller sig arbetet med värdegrundsfrågor på fritidshemmen i förhållande med Lgr 11. För att få fram mitt resultat använde jag mig av litteratur och att intervjua fem fritidspedagoger. Jag kom fram till att värdegrundsarbetet är svårtolkat och att många av de intervjuade fritidspedagogerna anpassade värdegrunden ut efter skolans ”behov”. Bakgrunden till min studie uppkom under min sista VFU period då jag såg ett behov av värdegrundsarbete i en elevgrupp där jag fann vissa motsättningar. Efter eget initiativ till övningar med dessa elever insåg jag hur eleverna var mottagliga och hur de inblandade utvecklats med hjälp av värdegrundsövningarna. Det var så jag såg hur viktigt värdegrundsarbete i skolan är. Nyckelord: värdegrund, fritidshem, normer, utveckling och lärande

In 2014 came new guidelines for after-school centers. These guidelines clarifies that it is the principal who is pedagogically responsible for the after-school centers. Due to that fact we became interested in investigating how principals describe their educational leadership for after-school centers.   With qualitative interviews as a method we have investigated how four principals describe their educational leadership for the after-school center based on the new guidelines and how they talk about their employees and the after-school centers.   Our results are based on the empirical material we received from these interviews. By analyzing this empirical material, based on the theory of situational leadership, we received answers to our research questions.

The after-school period of older primary school-aged children was used to examine how the social construct of childhood is being shaped and how it changes over time. With studies on childhood still relatively new academic terrain, this research makes a contribution by identifying some key structural and social forces impacting upon childhood. This research investigated firstly how children spend their time in the after-school period, secondly the reasons why they do so, and thirdly parental and child understandings and opinions on this subject. Childhood was found to be differentially constructed by socioeconomic backgrounds, and mediated by employment status. Results suggest that increasing parental employment accompanied concerns over safety for children and the need to protect them. This meant that there was a tendency for families to mediate between the child and wider society through increased surveillance of children. For one-parent families this took the form of supervision of children through after-school programmes. Two-parent families, who were more able to organise their work arrangements so that one parent was home after-school, monitored their children's activities within localised areas based around the home. Parental 'risk anxiety' was seen to be shaping the lives of children in terms of defining safe places and spaces for them. Children themselves tended to prefer informal, unstructured activities within these contexts, and did not seem too concerned about safety issues.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Florida State University, 2007. / Advisors: Judith L. Irvin, Sande Milton, Florida State University, College of Education, Dept. of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at El Paso, 2009. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references: (leaves 109-120) Also available online.

Thesis PlanB (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Stout, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references.