How to Promote Inclusive After-School Spaces? [Practical Edition]

This time, we are presenting the [Practical Edition] of "How to Promote Inclusive After-School Spaces?"

In promoting inclusive after-school spaces, four challenges have emerged based on the voices of parents and the facilities providing care:

1. Increasing staff numbers
2. Improving staff expertise
3. Expanding space and environment
4. Strengthening collaboration with related organizations and experts

▼ For the [Challenge Understanding Edition], click here

In this article, we will highlight examples from after-school sites that are working toward creating inclusive after-school spaces by implementing practical ingenuity, even while facing these challenges.

We interviewed the manager of an after-school children's classroom in Tokyo operated by the After-School NPO After School about specific practical examples.

Examples Aiming for Inclusive After-School Spaces

― While staff shortages and a lack of expertise are cited as challenges, are there any measures you are taking on-site?

While we continue recruitment efforts to resolve staff shortages, aligning the perspectives of our staff is the first priority for operating efficiently even with fewer people. For example, we create operational manuals to visualize general tasks.

Regarding expertise, we aim to raise the bar in terms of both behavior and mindset. We planned a study session where staff who participated in training by external experts as representatives of our site shared the knowledge they gained, and all staff members attended.

Furthermore, during end-of-shift meetings, staff reflect on the day together, sharing how the children spent their time, their behavior, and insights that other staff can utilize. We share how what was learned is being applied on-site, aiming for a state where everyone can put that knowledge into practice. I believe this creates a common understanding among staff and makes collaboration easier.

― Is there anything you consciously communicate to the staff working at the same site?

Basically, I believe that "good support" depends on the individual and the situation at that time. The first priority is to provide support flexibly after having a minimum common understanding among staff.

There is no end to pursuing the "correctness" of the support or supervision provided by staff on the spot, but if they thought of the child first, we ensure that both the surrounding staff and the staff member involved can feel that it was the best action that staff member could have taken at that time.

― Do you have any initiatives for dealing with a lack of space and environment?

Since it is difficult to prepare an appropriate environment for all children, individual responses are inevitable. To secure space in a single area, we have had relatively good success by limiting the children's visual and auditory input.

For example, children with autistic tendencies often have auditory hypersensitivity, so we lay sound-absorbing mats on the floor of the classroom we usually use so that sounds don't echo when blocks or similar items fall, or we lend out earmuffs.

Also, some children feel calmer when their field of vision is limited by installing partitions or simply placing the desks they are using to face the wall.

― Are you doing anything regarding collaboration with related organizations?

By acting proactively from the site level, we try to connect with as many places as possible to increase the number of adults thinking about the child in question. If it is a public facility, it is also possible to consult with the municipal office to be introduced to a psychological counselor and have them conduct patrols or training.

Additionally, for parents who also use after-school day services or after-school care programs, we shared information regarding their children and used that as a bridge to share information with other institutions. In the case of public facilities, there is also a high possibility of connecting with other relevant organizations through the local government office.

―Are there any specific approaches you take when interacting with the children?

For example, we implement programs that are 'enjoyable and accessible to everyone' by conducting universal sports (such as boccia or sitting volleyball) and adjusting the difficulty level of craft activities for each child.

I hope that by having children engage in common play within the same space, it will serve as an opportunity for them to naturally learn to understand and respect others.

―Are there any episodes involving the children that have left a lasting impression on you?

There was a child with developmental characteristics who often spent time alone in the room, absorbed in their favorite building blocks. With the support and closeness of our staff, they gradually began to play together with other children who also liked blocks. Through their interests, they were able to expand their circle of friends.

They are now in the sixth grade and have started to take an interest in the 'favorites' of other children, expanding their range of activities to include playing outside and drawing. Furthermore, I felt their growth when I saw them acting like an upperclassman, such as asking for the reasons behind arguments and mediating discussions so that everyone could play together comfortably.

―Do you have any specific approaches for communicating with parents?

Our after-school children's classroom has many children of foreign nationality, and many families face language barriers that prevent them from consulting with us even when they have concerns about child-rearing. Therefore, we prepare guides in simple Japanese and build relationships of trust by talking not only with the parents but also involving the children.

We also make an effort to provide peace of mind by actively sharing episodes of their child's growth and successes to alleviate any anxieties, and by suggesting ways to interact, such as 'I think this way of speaking to them was effective.'

A child from a special needs class who initially couldn't even climb the stairs to the facility alone because they weren't used to the environment now has more friends in regular classes through after-school interactions, and we share these stories during pick-up times. The parents also look forward to hearing these growth episodes, and we feel that we are watching over their growth together.

To promote the creation of inclusive after-school spaces

As shown in these examples, there are sites where staff align their perspectives and engage in initiatives that are close to the children and their parents, leading to positive changes in the children. While the situation varies by site, if each location adopts even small, practical initiatives, it should help open up possibilities for the children.

However, there are challenges that cannot be resolved through on-site efforts alone, such as labor shortages, and local governments are also required to take action to address these issues.
Furthermore, there is a need to build systems and frameworks where parents and host facilities can easily consult with experts. It is also expected that local governments will take initiatives to solve these problems and actively share information among themselves.

After-school time holds great potential as a place that leads to the better growth of children, and having an after-school space leads to the well-being of both children and their parents. Perhaps the first step toward creating inclusive after-school spaces is for parents, host facilities, and local governments to believe that good changes and growth can occur for any child, and to cooperate and collaborate with one another.

Text: Communication Design Team, Sasaki

▼ To After-School Service Providers

【Call for Participants】 We are supporting after-school children's clubs and similar organizations in aiming for inclusive after-school spaces!

The After-School NPO After School has been selected as a fund distribution organization for the 'From Exclusion to Inclusion: Inclusive After-School Creation Project' together with READYFOR Inc., a member of the consortium. We will be recruiting implementing organizations to carry out activities to promote this project and will provide financial and non-financial support to the selected organizations.

To promote the creation of inclusive after-school spaces where all children can grow regardless of their characteristics, circumstances, or environment, we hope that after-school service providers will consider applying for this project and face these challenges together with us.

【Application Deadline】
June 4, 2024 (Tue) 17:00 (Scheduled)

For details, please see here.