So We’ve “Met the Standard”: Considering Community in an After-School Program Through an Activity-Theoretical Lens

• In Event: Play, Learning, and Development Across Activity Settings

Abstract

This paper presents findings from a qualitative case study of the nature of activity in an elementary-level afterschool arts program, one which involved students and their parents. The study, working through a cultural-historical activity theoretical lens, sought to examine participants’ activity holistically, in context, hoping to understand what made the program successful, though it neither adhered to a formalized curriculum, nor attempted to quantify its results. This paper focuses on one quality of activity in the program: its communal nature. After discussing how many out-of-school programming guides and evaluations frame community as something to be “brought in,” I detail what a community looks like in place, as well as its value in terms of program sustenance and development.

Author

• Elizabeth W. Hughes