Abstract:

The understanding of the educational daily life of children requires considering the role the socio-educational activities have in that process, in which they are involved after school time, considering the formative complementarity they represent. Even though non-school education has always existed, it has been paid more attention and recognition since the second half of the 20th century, with the valuing and clarification of "non formal" and "informal" education. It is on these dimensions that the study presented in this article is centered, investigating its characteristics and the relationships that are woven between school and non-school education, calling upon the theoretical contributions of authors who have worked on the subject, as well as the thoughts of children and teachers who participated in the study. The main objective of this study was to find out the opinions of children and teachers about the participation in non-formal educational activities, developed in leisure time, and was guided by the following questions: In which socio-educational activities do children engage after school time? How are these activities perceived by children? And by the teachers? What are the remaining motivation(s) for children's participation in non-formal activities? And that of the teachers? What role do children play in making decisions about the activities in which they participate? And what measures should be promoted to improve the organization of the children's leisure time? For data collection we used a questionnaire, applied to teachers (25) and children (109, from 6 to 12 years old), from a school centre in the north of Portugal. The results show that the socio-educational activities in which children are most involved after school time are, according to the children and teachers, the extracurricular and sports activities. Opportunities for fun, for occupation while parents work, and for improving school results are the reasons most highlighted by children for their involvement in out-of-school activities. The decision making in the choice of these activities is, according to the children, predominantly made by the parents (father/mother) but perceived by most of them as important and fun. As suggestions for improving the answers regarding the occupation of children's free time, the interviewees point out the offer of activities of different nature, highlighting sports, individual and group activities. The interviewed teachers emphasize the need to reduce the permanence time of children in the school space and to increase the opportunities of physical activity, thus meeting the children's requirements. The contributions of the study to (re)think about the quality of the contexts and activities attended by children during their leisure time are highlighted, valuing them as important means of recreation and learning.

Keywords:

Non-formal education, Free time, Learning, Recreation.