Games as a Meeting Place and a Tool for Professional Development in School-Age Educare

The project examines opportunities for development and learning through analogue and digital games in school-age educare, and how teachers can use games to develop their educational practice from a didactic perspective.

The project, Games as a Meeting Place and a Tool for Professional Development in School-Age Educare, is a collaboration between researchers at the University of Gävle and teachers working in school-age educare. It is a practice-based project that starts from the participating teachers’ and pupils’ understanding and use of analogue and digital games. Together with researchers from the University, the project aims to develop the use of games further and explore how games can contribute to the development of educational practice in school-age educare, as well as pupils’ knowledge and competencies.

The project thus aims to contribute to a greater understanding of the opportunities for development and learning that may arise through the use of analogue and digital games, and of how teachers can use games didactically to develop educational practice in school-age educare. As school-age educare is based on pupils’ needs, interests and experiences, the project will also address pupils’ experiences of and reflections on games and different learning opportunities.

The study will be conducted through interviews with pupils and teachers, as well as field studies in school-age educare settings and in the Exploratory Learning Lab at the University. Pre-service teachers specialising in school-age educare will also participate in the study in the lab. The project therefore provides opportunities to develop several different educational settings and the people involved in them. In this way, the project will contribute to and advance knowledge about the use of analogue and digital games in school-age educare. It will also benefit pre-service teachers specialising in school-age educare.

The study is funded by ULF (Education, Learning, Research) and will run from 2026 to 2030. It is carried out within the ECE research group by Björn Haglund and Lena O Magnusson. The project also includes funding for a doctoral student employed by a municipality, who will participate in and follow the project throughout its four-year duration