Conflicts in the free play : The after-school teachers' view of what causes pupils to end up in conflicts

In this study we will present what causes influence pupils in the after-school program to end up in conflicts. The aim of this study is to investigate after-school teachers' perceptions of why conflicts occur in the after-school program. For the collection of our empirical material we chose qualitative interviews. The interviews took place in two different schools where we interviewed four after-school teachers from each school. The two schools are located in different parts of Stockholm, where one school is located in a multicultural area and the other in a monocultural area. We chose these schools in order to see what similarities and differences may cause conflicts to arise. In the analysis of the empirical material we used Vygotskij’s socio-cultural perspective as well as Thomas Jordan's perception about conflicts.The results of the study showed that there are a variety of reasons that cause conflicts to arise in the after-school program. The three most important factors that have emerged are the environment, the pupils 'social competence and the after-school teachers' knowledge of conflicts. Despite the demographic differences of the schools, the results were very similar. The clear difference between the schools was a social norm that influenced the pupils in the multicultural area to end up in conflicts.