History of the WERA TASK FORCE Global Research in Extended Education
Since the beginning of the 21st century, a wide array of state-run and private programs supplementing traditional schooling were implemented extensively. During this period, a high demand for scientific information in the field arose. Educational research increasingly dealt with the potential and challenges of these activities—collectively termed “extended education.” Despite this growth, there remained no continuous exchange of scientific information in this field at an international level.
Image Credit: Ludwig Stecher
2010 – The Network for Research on Out-of-School Time and Extracurricular Educational Research
The journey towards establishing the Global Research in Extended Education Task Force began with a group of international experts who launched the Network for Research on Out-of-School Time and Extracurricular Educational Research(NEO-ER) by Prof. Dr. LudiwgStecher, University of Giessen, Germany. The first meeting of this group took place at the University of Giessen, Germany, in November 2010, and was entitled Extended Education: An International Perspective.
2017 – WERA-IRN Extended Education
In order to enhance and to broaden international collaboration in this research field, the group successfully applied for becoming an International Research Network (IRN) within the World Education Research Association (WERA) under the leadership of Prof. Dr. Marianne Schüpbach and Prof. Dr. Ludwig Stecher. In April 2017, the NEO-ER turned into the WERA-IRN EXTENDED EDUCATION, and was later co-chaired by Prof. Dr. Marianne Schüpbach and Prof. Dr. Gil Noam, Harvard University, USA.
2023 – WERA TASK FORCE: Global Research in Extended Education
Under the leadership of Prof. Dr. Marianne Schüpbach, Freie Universität Berlin, Germany a proposal was submitted for consideration by WERA. In April 2023, the WERA Executive Committee invited the WERA-IRN to elevate the status and to become a WERA Task Force. The Task Force was chaired by Prof. Dr. Marianne Schüpbach until 2025, and is now chaired by Prof Dr. Jennifer Cartmel, Griffith University, Australia.
“A WERA Task Force has the responsibility to embrace a substantive area of education research that is global, international, or comparative in scope and has, as a core objective, to further advance research and recommendations of consequences for research worldwide in that area”.
International Journal for Research on Extended Education (IJREE)
In 2013, the NEO-ER launched an internationally refereed journal, the International Journal for Research on Extended Education (IJREE). In the beginning, the journal was funded by the German Research Council (DFG). Since then, it has been published twice a year. Today, it is internationally recognized as the unique academic journal in the field of extended education.
Previous Conferences
- NEO-ER
- 2010: Extended Education: An International Perspective – University of Giessen, Germany
- 2013: Extended Education and Social Inequality – University of Giessen, Germany
- 2015: Values and Prospects of Extended Education – Sungkyunkwan University, South Korea
- 2016: Expanding the Horizon of Research in Extended Education: Perspective, Fields, and Methods – Sungkyunkwan University, South Korea
- WERA-IRN Extended Education
- 2017: Extended Education from an International Comparative Point of View – University of Bamberg, Germany
- 2019: Extended Education – Practices, Theories and Activities – Stockholm University, Sweden
- 2021: Extended Education – Towards a Sustainable Future – University of Iceland, Iceland
- 2022: Extended Education in Times of Crisis: Development, Learning, Thriving – Online
- WERA TASK FORCE: Global Research in Extended Education
- 2023: Between School and Recreation – Quality in Extended Education – Bern University of Teacher Education, Switzerland
- 2024: Bricolage: Research Methodologies and Perspectives in Extended Education – Griffith University, Australia
- 2025: Extended Education in the future – Possibilities and Challenges – Linköping University, Sweden