This scientific essay explores the dynamic between pupils’ need for autonomy and the schoolage educare teacher’s responsibility for structure, safety, and pedagogical content. The aim is to deepen the understanding of why teachers may experience feelings of inadequacy when balancing pupils’ desire for free play and self-determination with institutional and curricular demands. The study is based on two professional narratives drawn from our practice in school-age educare within compulsory school and adapted upper secondary school. Through analysis of these experiences, in dialogue with theory and previous research, the essay highlights how the teacher role is shaped within relational, structural, and situational conditions.

The method is scientific essay in combination with participant observation, integrating experiential knowledge with theoretical perspectives. The analysis draws on social constructionism and childhood sociology, together with Isaiah Berlin’s concepts of negative and positive liberty, as well as theories of embodied knowledge and practical wisdom. The findings indicate that balancing freedom and structure is not a fixed method but a relational and judgement-based practice. Feelings of inadequacy emerge not as a lack of competence, but as an expression of professional practical wisdom within a complex educational mandate.