The symposium is considering the special call launched by NW14 and contributes to the topic of tensions between schools and non-formal education in regard to global realities such as the COVID19-pandemic, migration as well as changes of political systems. It was organized through a collaboration of the German Youth Institute (K.Hemming & S.Beierle) and the Zurich University of Teacher Education Zurich (P.Schuler Braunschweig).

We examine how schools and other institutions, located in different countries (Germany, Sweden, Switzerland, U.S.) and offering non-formal education, harmonize local and global perspectives throughout their activities and if they manage to fulfill their promise to lower inequality. To do so, we explore non-formal educational offers in and outside the context of school-communities: their classification of activity types in youth as well as their role in the pandemic, for youth transitions, for integration, for all-day-schools, and for different national contexts.

Conceptually, non-formal education is distinguished from formal education (La Belle, 1981). The two types of education are coexisting simultaneously within the system, at times harmoniously and at others in conflict. The modes vary in the degree of emphasis on formality and may exist within the same institutional setting. All individuals, at all times, are engaged in one or more modes of learning experiences, and each individual creates a unique configuration of the educational influences depending on socioeconomic level, gender, or ethno-religious identity. Brennan (1997) describes non-formal education as complement, alternative, and supplement to the formal education system. Such less formal and non-formal activities drive towards homogenization in education by complementing formal learning at school and non-formal learning within the family or in other non-formal contexts by providing educational opportunities for children outside the classroom.

The field of non-formal education has grown substantially in the past decades. Non-formal education plays a major role for the positive development of children and youth. Research has demonstrated that the participation in non-formal activities is associated with a number of positive  developmental experiences (Blomfield & Barber, 2011; Farb & Matjasko, 2012) and provides opportunities for learning processes and positive labour-market outcomes (Metsäpelto & Pulkkinen, 2014). However, as non-formal education takes place in different fields (e.g. Youth Work, all-day schools, commercial and non-commercial leisure activities, sports, civic engagement) and is framed by specific global realities (e.g. political systems, national consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic), international research is theoretically and methodologically challenged and has to consider multiple settings, surroundings and disciplines.

In our symposium, we review the offers and opportunities given to young people in non-formal education. We ask what can be learned in/from different places related to non-formal education and how non-formal education and linked institutions respond to current global realities. The symposium is presented in two parts, each consisting of two/three empirical contributions from different national and scientific contexts. Therewith, the symposium brings together international research perspectives on non-formal education from four countries with a multi-method approach and an interdisciplinary perspective deriving from educational science, sociology, and psychology. In the symposium, we want to discuss the different research approaches and perspectives on non-formal education critically with our discussant (I.Züchner) as well as with the audience; we will therefore provide sufficient time.

Part I of the symposium puts the focus on positive outcomes of non-formal education related to (1) integrative effects of sports in Sweden and the U.S., (2) all-day-school settings in Switzerland, and (3) educational pathways of young people in Germany.

Part II of the symposium focuses on effects of the COVID-19-pandemic in Germany and Switzerland as global realities and link them to the field of non-formal education and social inequality. Part II will finish with a joint discussian of both parts of the symposium.

Brennan, B. (1997). Reconceptualizing Non-formal Education. International Journal of Lifelong Education, 16 (3), 185-200. Blomfield, C.J. & Barber, B.L. (2011). Developmental experiences during extracurricular activities and Australian adolescents' self-concept: particularly important for youth from disadvantaged schools. Journal of Youth and Adolescence 40 (5), 582–594. DOI: 10.1007/s10964-010-9563-0. Farb, A.F., & Matjasko, J.L. (2012). Recent advances in research on school-based extracurricular activities and adolescent development. Developmental Review 32 (1), 1-48. La Belle, T.J. (1982). Formal, Nonformal and Informal Education: A Holistic Perspective on Lifelong Learning. International Review of Education / Internationale Zeitschrift Für Erziehungswissenschaft / Revue Internationale de l’Education, 28(2), 159–175. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3443930 Metsäpelto, R.-L. & Pulkkinen, L. (2014). The benefits of extracurricular activities for socioemotional behavior and school achievement in middle childhood: An overview of the research. Journal for Education Research Online (6), 10–33.