Extended Education – Some Considerations on a Growing Research Field

In most modern countries, much learning in childhood and adolescence takes place outside of regular school hours. That holds for community-based programs – like afterschool programs – as well as for private offerings – like private tutoring. In the international research literature, this field of learning opportunity is called extended education. This article attempts to define the term, extended education, and to describe in some detail the common features of extended education programs and activities, focusing among other things on questions of methods, outcomes and professionals working in this field. The article addresses additionally the question whether learning in the field of extended education decreases social inequality, or, on the contrary, widens the social gap. The most important conclusion is that many relevant questions regarding social inequality and the effectiveness of extended education are still empirically open to research.