Since the beginning of this century, after-school care programs (or extended education) have experienced explosive growth in several countries. However, our current knowledge of the educational quality of this type of childcare is very limited (Fukkink & Boogaard, 2020) because the quality of this activity is assessed (or not at all) in different ways and scrutinized to varying degrees. International research into the area has been requested because a lack of activities before and after the school day, including care and learning, is perceived as a matter of equality and social justice (Bae et al., 2009; Bae & Stecher, 2019; Hjalmarsson & Odenbring, 2019; Schüpbach, 2014). Offering quality activities for the children in these out-of-school programs is also about compensating and supplementing the school in informal learning environments with a different type of pedagogy (Andishmand, 2017).
In Sweden, current investigations emphasize the importance of equality in the Swedish School Age Educare Centers (SAEC) (cf. SOU 2020:34; 2020:46; SOU 2022:61). Safe, constructive, and inspiring learning environments are crucial for students' well-being and sense of psychological ownership (Grewell, 2025). As SAECs are arenas for informal learning, they are crucial as complementary learning environments to the more formal learning situations offered in school, for example, when it comes to language development for bilingual students (Damber, 2024). Even though equivalent quality in the SAEC is projected by authorities (Skolverket, 2023) and policy actors (SRK, 2025), there is very little guidance and support in the governing documents. In addition, the research is sparse, and staff are often left to their own devices to understand and implement quality in SAEC. Equity in Swedish SAEC is the focus of the present study, which studies the creation of accessible learning environments and knowledge about ways of improving teaching and learning in SAEC to enable equity in and between different SAECs.

The purpose has been to generate knowledge about how changes and improvements in teaching can increase the staff's knowledge of equity learning environments. The research questions that guided the study:
RQ1: How do staff at the four SAECs perceive and describe equity in learning environments in their practice?
RQ2: How do staff perceive their planning and teaching to improve and make learning environments equity to all students?
RQ3: What needs to teachers perceive in terms of support to increase competence regarding equity in the learning environment?
The study's results are relevant for the participating SAECs in the entire municipality and nationally. Knowledge is needed to put the topic on a political agenda and fulfill the curriculum's objectives. Knowledge is also needed internationally, as so many children worldwide are affected by the issue of quality leisure time in out-of-school programs.

The research project includes four different SAECs and is organized as a multiple case study (Stake, 1995) in a municipality where two city schools, one in a rural setting and one in a socio-economically disadvantaged area on the city's outskirts, are included. It is a combined research and development work. The latter is carried out as action research (Fransisco et al., 2024) involving staff and their own questions to enhance equity and accessible learning environments in their respective practices, planning and carrying out actions depending on the perceived needs in the different schools. The staff has carried out short observations using their own practices to gain deeper insights about their own practice, the present conditions for the pupils’ learning, and the needs created by the conditions for personnel to carry out their work. The staff’s documentation from their observations is the foundation for joint reflection, discussion of decisions, and planning of actions. Actions lead to new sessions of joint reflections on the outcomes of actions and planning of the following actions in cyclical order, with joint sessions for each work team and the researchers once a month, where the researchers record the discussions and provide theoretical input (Bergmark, & Viklund, 2021). Initially, a literature review of current international and national research on equity in learning environments in SAECs was done. This literature review gains a solid foundation for our reflections on the results that have been identified. This combined research and development project is a two-year enterprise where the development work rests on action research. This length of the study was chosen to enable documentation and study of occurring changes as results of the action research The empirical data is based on group interviews with teachers (N= 30) and a web questionnaire answered individually. The group interviews were analyzed with reflexive thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2022), and the questionnaires were analyzed with descriptive statistics. Through this method triangulation, the results from group interviews and surveys give a more complete understanding have been achieved The ethical guidelines were followed. Participants were informed of the study's purpose and could leave anytime. They provided written consent for surveys and interviews, and group discussions were recorded. Confidentiality was guaranteed, with no identifying details included in publications.

In comparison with earlier research, we first conclude that there is a general lack of research on equity in learning environments in out-of-school programs ((Fukkink & Boogaard, 2020) even though SAECs in Sweden display considerable potential to be learning arenas that are very appreciated by the pupils, and in particular pupils that are in need of extra support benefit from the more informal learning environment that the SAEC offers (Skolverket, 2023). Secondly, we can state that the concept of equivalent learning environments encompasses many different interpretations and associations among staff. Therefore, we believe that a broad discussion about the concept and its meaning would be valuable. Some pitfalls are also visible in the results, as the staff struggles with limited time for planning and, at times, a shortage of personnel in combination with large groups of children (up to 70 children), which, for example, contributes to inequality. The results shed light on how the teachers tackle these challenges and how the interaction between the staff at different SAECs has proven beneficial as inspiration for possible changes. In the outcome of the group interviews, we identify signs of dedication to the task of working for increased equity, which we connect with a type of resilience among the personnel that they do what they can to keep up work that is appreciated by the pupils, even though challenges of the kind mentioned above, occur on a weekly basis. The result also shows a continued discrepancy regarding equivalent learning environments in terms of physical, pedagogical, and social aspects at the local, regional, and national levels. The gap needs to be addressed to policy actors. Furthermore, we believe it is time to act for equality in SAEC for the sake of all students

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