Leisure in Education: A Multi-Contextual Tool

A special issue of Education Sciences (ISSN 2227-7102).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 January 2024) | Viewed by 3657

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Faculty of Education, Department of Theory and History of Education, University of Murcia, 30100 Murcia, Spain
Interests: education for citizenship and improvement of school coexistence; education in values in the family context; ethical–moral perspective of the information society; relationship between family and schools
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Guest Editor
Faculty of Education, Department of Research and Diagnostic Methods in Education, University of Murcia, 30100 Murcia, Spain
Interests: family leisure; emotional education; new methodologies; homework; innovative teaching methods and the family context
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Thanks to recent advances in democracy, citizenship and rights, leisure has become a multifaceted concept, being inherent in society and extensible to various disciplines, including education. While the pedagogy of leisure emerges strongly as a vital and permanent learning process with the aim of ensuring equal opportunities and achieving the maximum potential of leisure practices, the historical perspective that allows us to understand the evolution of leisure and identification of traditional games and discriminatory and exclusionary practices for certain sectors of the population are also of interest. There is no doubt that there has been a reconceptualisation of leisure, which has urged us to explore not only how the concept of leisure has changed, but also its expansion and generalisation to all sectors of the population and spheres, as well as the many possible ways in which it manifests itself.

Leisure pedagogy aims to transmit to the population a conceptualisation of leisure as a freely lived act in which integral development and satisfaction are indispensable requirements. Formal, non-formal and informal educational environments facilitate the inclusion of the human being in this formative process, being represented by various agents, such as the school, the family, associations or the administration itself.

However, certain unhealthy leisure options still present a danger, evoking a mistaken idea of how leisure time should be enjoyed. The solution lies in presenting leisure as a means of guidance and counselling which, in key stages such as adolescence or childhood, forms the basis of these practices. In this way, leisure experiences, as an educational tool with great versatility, offer a multiplicity of learning opportunities (knowledge, attitudes, values, skills, abilities and behaviours) regardless of the evolutionary stage of the person and multiple benefits such as awakening motivation and interest, human development, participation, self-esteem, inclusion, citizenship, liberation from stress and work anxiety, socialisation, intergenerational relations, etc.

The growth of scientific production has been generic and dispersed, which does not facilitate the visualisation of the potential of this subject. Moreover, the existing monographs are old or excessively specific. Therefore, we propose a broad monograph on leisure and education that covers different age groups, types of leisure, educational contexts and reference agents. To this end, we accept different empirical, qualitative, quantitative or mixed studies, the implementation and evaluation of intervention proposals based on leisure education or methodological studies and theoretical reviews that provide new knowledge in this field of study. Topics of interest include the following:

  • Leisure and citizenship (inclusion, entrepreneurship, etc.);
  • Family leisure;
  • Leisure, sport, therapy and health;
  • Leisure in the elderly: possibilities and improvements;
  • Leisure and academic performance;
  • Intergenerational leisure;
  • Technological leisure;
  • Leisure and emotional education;
  • Gamified leisure;
  • Cultural leisure (tourism, museums, historical heritage, etc...);
  • Training of leisure professionals;
  • Leisure guidance and counselling;
  • Leisure interventions in associations and schools;
  • Leisure in rural contexts;
  • Professionalisation of leisure.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

You may choose our Joint Special Issue in Societies.

Dr. Mª Ángeles Hernández-Prados
Dr. José Santiago Álvarez-Muñoz
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • school
  • family
  • leisure
  • technology
  • learning
  • sport
  • culture

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

18 pages, 322 KiB  
Article
Federated or Non-Federated Sports: The Influence on Children, the Youth Population and Family Life
by José Santiago Álvarez Muñoz, Mª Ángeles Hernández Prados and César Palazón Segura
Educ. Sci. 2024, 14(8), 913; https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci14080913 - 20 Aug 2024
Viewed by 679
Abstract
Family time must be combined with the personal time of each of its members, with special importance regarding children due to the need for attention and monitoring by parents of their performance. Within the leisure of minors in the home, physical activity and [...] Read more.
Family time must be combined with the personal time of each of its members, with special importance regarding children due to the need for attention and monitoring by parents of their performance. Within the leisure of minors in the home, physical activity and sports are the most in-demand typologies, thus some of them participate in federated clubs, attending a more institutionalized or professional sport, while others develop in an environment based on entertainment. In this way, depending on the demand for these activities, it leads to a series of different consequences in the family environment. The main objective of this study is to establish whether or not children’s attendance at federated sports affects family dynamics. A total of 224 Spanish families with children from 6 to 18 years of age who practice sport activities participated and completed a questionnaire with 36 items about the family’s involvement in children’s sports. The results show that parents with children participating in federated sports have a more positive perception of their children’s sports practices; they provide greater support to their children regarding their performance and see this activity as an excellent opportunity for education in values. However, they do identify it as an obstacle to the development of family leisure practices, resulting in an element that conditions family reconciliation. In this way, there is a need to establish alliances between families and sports professionals, providing family participation bodies in sports clubs and providing a better conciliation time to accommodate family time. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Leisure in Education: A Multi-Contextual Tool)
12 pages, 1059 KiB  
Article
Values-Based Education and the Promotion of Social Participation in Children’s Educational Leisure Organisations
by Idurre Lazcano Quintana and Aurora Madariaga Ortuzar
Educ. Sci. 2024, 14(4), 430; https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci14040430 - 19 Apr 2024
Viewed by 908
Abstract
As recent research has shown, the importance of integral development during childhood is a highly relevant issue linked to promoting values and participation styles in healthy and safe leisure environments, which serve as significant educational spaces for participants. Research shows that education in [...] Read more.
As recent research has shown, the importance of integral development during childhood is a highly relevant issue linked to promoting values and participation styles in healthy and safe leisure environments, which serve as significant educational spaces for participants. Research shows that education in values is a foundation for citizens to commit to others and embrace diversity as a value and an enriching circumstance. In educational leisure spaces for children, personal and group identities are built around equity, justice, and inclusion, all of which generate greater social cohesion. The study universe of this work was made up of non-profit organisations working in the field of children’s educational leisure in the Basque Country, Catalonia, and Madrid. The methodology used was mixed and developed in three phases. The results presented here correspond to the first phase of the study (qualitative method) and focused on a content analysis, for which the categories of analysis related to education in values and the promotion of social participation were identified. Likewise, the results correspond to a specific territorial context, the historical territory of Bizkaia (northern Spain), specifically to ten non-profit organisations that develop their activity in the field of educational leisure time. The results have been organised around education in values, spaces and dynamics for social participation, and the vision of the sector’s future. The results highlight the entities’ role in methodological innovation, ethical commitment, the transmission of values, and the cultivation of participation from an early age through different activities. In conclusion, it emphasises the need for the children’s educational leisure sector to address the challenges of contemporary society. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Leisure in Education: A Multi-Contextual Tool)
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12 pages, 1032 KiB  
Article
Do Grandparents Contribute to Their Grandchildren’s Learning through Shared Leisure Activities?
by Rosa Ana Alonso Ruiz, Eva Sanz Arazuri, Magdalena Sáenz de Jubera Ocón, Mª Ángeles Valdemoros San Emeterio and Ana Ponce de León Elizondo
Educ. Sci. 2024, 14(1), 84; https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci14010084 - 12 Jan 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1304
Abstract
Intergenerational leisure can be a tool to stimulate and reinforce the learning of primary school students. The aim of this study was to examine which leisure activities shared by grandparents and their grandchildren are carried out from the perception of intergenerational learning as [...] Read more.
Intergenerational leisure can be a tool to stimulate and reinforce the learning of primary school students. The aim of this study was to examine which leisure activities shared by grandparents and their grandchildren are carried out from the perception of intergenerational learning as one of the main reasons for joint practice, and its link with the grandparents’ level of education. An ad hoc questionnaire was administered to 329 students aged 6 to 12 years in the north of Spain, and a descriptive study and inferential analysis of the data were carried out. The leisure activities that students highlight the most as experiences in which they perceive that by sharing them with their grandparents, they learn from them, are board games, artistic activities, caring for plants or gardens and reading. There are only significant differences in the learning perceived by primary school students depending on the level of education of their grandparents in caring for plants or vegetable gardens, as the grandparents of children aged 6 to 12 in the northern part of Spain are more able to teach their grandchildren to care for plants or vegetable gardens when their level of education is primary education. These four activities highlighted by the grandchildren as facilitators of knowledge are very interesting instruments to stimulate and reinforce the education of primary school students, so involving grandparents in their grandchildren’s education and taking advantage of their knowledge and experience, as well as their ability to stimulate their grandchildren, is a good strategy to turn free time into valuable leisure time. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Leisure in Education: A Multi-Contextual Tool)
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