Play and leisure in Australian School Age Care: Reconceptualizing children's waiting as a site of play and labour. (November 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Hurst, Bruce
• Is Part Of: Childhood. Volume 26:Number 4(2019:Nov.)
• Page Start: 462
• Page End: 475
• Publication Date: 2019-11
• Subjects: Boredom -- child care -- Foucault -- gender -- out of school hours care -- play -- School Age Care -- school age educare; Children -- Periodicals; Child development -- Periodicals; Children -- Research -- Periodicals; 305.23
• DOI: 10.1177/0907568219868521
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0907-5682

Abstract

Australian School Age Care programmes are little researched childhood settings that are commonly understood as sites of leisure and play in between school and home. This article draws on recent research to consider the status of a seemingly non-playful activity, that of children's waiting in School Age Care. The poststructural framing in this article conceptualizes waiting as an activity that incorporates acts of emotional labour, play and identity construction. It prompts consideration of whether waiting is a site of play and should therefore be incorporated in programming practices in School Age Care and other play-based settings.