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FG1: Well-being and Well-becoming in Extended Education

Lead: Barbara Stampfli

This focus group explores the multifaceted relationship between extended education and the concepts of well-being and well-becoming. Recognizing that well-being is a dynamic, culturally embedded, and often contested concept, we aim to examine how it is understood, enacted, and experienced across diverse social, institutional, and national contexts. Extended education offers unique spaces where children and adults interact, learn, and grow. These settings are shaped by a variety of actors, including educators, caregivers, policymakers, community members, and the children themselves. Each brings distinct perspectives, values, and agendas that influence how well-being is defined and pursued. Our discussions will centre on key themes such as: Children’s and adults’ perspectives on and experiences of well-being and well-becoming, the role of care, relationality, and emotional support in extended education, how extended education fosters a sense of belonging, identity, and community, the paradox between individual well-being and institutional goals or societal expectations, the ways in which well-being is measured, narrated, and politicized in different contexts. By engaging with these themes as well as exploring opportunities for collaborating, we try to cope with the complexity and richness of well-being – not just as something personal, but also as something we build together as a community. 

The focus group invites participants to share insights from research, practice, and lived experience to deepen understanding and to co-create more inclusive and responsive approaches to well-being in extended education.

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FG2: Quality and Professionalism in Extended Education

Lead: Professor Regula Windlinger; Steingerdur Kristjansdottir

The concept of quality in Extended Education encompasses a wide range of meanings, spanning from structural and organizational conditions to pedagogical processes and relational dynamics. The definition of “quality” varies across national traditions, policy frameworks, and stakeholder perspectives. It is often shaped by tensions between measurable outcomes and the more intangible aspects of learning, care, and well-being. Professionalism in Extended Education refers to the specific forms of knowledge and competence, required to navigate these complexities. This includes both formal qualifications and situated, practice-based expertise, and questions of recognition, autonomy, and the hybrid professional roles that are characteristic of the field. 

The focus group brings together international researchers to advance the theoretical and empirical understanding of quality and professionalism in Extended Education. Through online meetings and collaborative discussions, participants will exchange research findings, explore comparative perspectives, and contribute to the conceptual and methodological development of the field.

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FG3: Leadership in Extended Education

Lead: Professor Michelle Jutzi.  Michelle.jutzi@phbern.ch

Leadership in Extended Education (EE) shares many characteristics with leadership in schools and other social institutions. At the same time, it involves distinctive responsibilities such as close cooperation with schools, parents, and the integration of pedagogical approaches across school and leisure contexts. The leadership in EE is unique. Leaders in EE work within multiprofessional teams, which requires them to extend their role beyond administrative management. Effective EE leadership must foster collaboration, inclusion, and ongoing professional learning among diverse professional groups. Despite its growing relevance, research on EE leadership remains limited. Moreover, understandings of leadership roles, responsibilities, and professional development vary significantly across countries, and often lack a coherent, theoretically grounded curriculum. 

This focus group brings together researchers and lecturers from universities and EE leadership organizations to discuss the core responsibilities of EE leaders and to explore the challenges and opportunities that arise from leading an EE service. Key leadership domains, such as human resource management, finance, and quality management will be examined in depth, with the aim of contributing to a clearer conceptualization of leadership in Extended Education.

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FG4: Children’s Perspectives on Extended Education

Lead: Professor Helene Elvstrand. helene.elvstrand@liu.se

Children’s perspectives are central to understanding the conditions, practices, and possibilities of extended education. While extended education environments often aim to promote children’s learning, social development, and agency, research on how children themselves experience, interpret, and shape these settings is limited. Moreover, methodological and ethical questions about conducting research with (rather than merely about) children require careful attention and shared reflection. 

This focus group brings together researchers and practitioners interested in child-centered research within the field of extended education to explore how children’s voices, actions, and meaningmaking can be understood and integrated in both empirical studies and educational development. The focus group will engage in dialogue about theoretical and methodological approaches to researching children’s perspectives, including, for example,participatory methods, observations, interviews, and multimodal techniques. Topics such as ethics, power relations, children’s agency, children’s experiences and their critical potential, as well as the role of researchers and educators in coconstructing knowledge, will be explored. The aim of the group is to build a collaborative space where insights, challenges, and possibilities for research with and for children in extended education can be critically developed.