School-aged children in the U.S. and other Western nations spend almost half of their waking hours in leisure activities. For some, out-of-school time is perceived as inconsequential or even counterproductive to the health and well-being of young persons. Recently, however, there has been a growing recognition that--along with family, peers, and school--the organized activities in which some youth participate during these hours are important contexts of emotional, social, and civic development. They provide opportunities for young persons to learn and develop competencies that are largely neglected by schools. At the same time, communities and national governments are now channeling considerable resources into creating organized activities for young people's out-of-school time. This volume brings together a multidisciplinary, international group of experts to provide conceptual, empirical, and policy-relevant advances in research on children's and adolescents' participation in the developmental contexts represented by extracurricular activities, and after-school and community programs.
"Organized Activities as Contexts of Development" provides a handbook-like coverage of research in this new emerging field. It considers a broad developmental time-span from middle childhood through early adulthood, providing information on how motivation, participation, and developmental experiences change as youth get older. The contents cover one of the most salient topics in child and adolescent research, education, and social policy, placing consistent emphasis on developmental aspects and implications of organized activity participation for young persons. Representing contributors from several fields of study--psychology, criminal justice, leisure science, sociology, human development, education, prevention, and public policy--the book is designed to appeal to students and scholars in all these areas. Additionally, the volume is written to be of interest to professionals who administer programs and develop policy on youth.

School-aged children in the U.S. and other Western nations spend almost half of their waking hours in leisure activities. For some, out-of-school time is perceived as inconsequential or even counterproductive to the health and well-being of young persons. Recently, however, there has been a growing recognition that--along with family, peers, and school--the organized activities in which some youth participate during these hours are important contexts of emotional, social, and civic development. They provide opportunities for young persons to learn and develop competencies that are largely neglected by schools. At the same time, communities and national governments are now channeling considerable resources into creating organized activities for young people's out-of-school time. This volume brings together a multidisciplinary, international group of experts to provide conceptual, empirical, and policy-relevant advances in research on children's and adolescents' participation in the developmental contexts represented by extracurricular activities, and after-school and community programs.
"Organized Activities as Contexts of Development" provides a handbook-like coverage of research in this new emerging field. It considers a broad developmental time-span from middle childhood through early adulthood, providing information on how motivation, participation, and developmental experiences change as youth get older. The contents cover one of the most salient topics in child and adolescent research, education, and social policy, placing consistent emphasis on developmental aspects and implications of organized activity participation for young persons. Representing contributors from several fields of study--psychology, criminal justice, leisure science, sociology, human development, education, prevention, and public policy--the book is designed to appeal to students and scholars in all these areas. Additionally, the volume is written to be of interest to professionals who administer programs and develop policy on youth.

From childhood to adolescence, young people are enrolled in various public or private forms of educational arrangements outside regular school lessons. These activities can be summarized by the term extended education. The volume provides an overview of extended education in multiple nations around the world. Different models, policies, methods, and research findings are discussed from an international point of view. Children participate in school- or community-based programs, forms of private tutoring or after-school activities such as art courses or academic clubs, or they attend extracurricular activities at all-day schools or leisure time centres. In as far as these activities and programmes focus on the social, emotional and academic development of children and young people and are pedagogically structured to make it easier for the participants to learn specific contents they can be summarized by the term extended education. The volume aims at three main aspects: Firstly, it explores major characteristics of extended education as an emerging research field, defines what this research field is (and is not), and points to areas/nations/regions where we know very little about extended education. Secondly, the volume provides a potential framework for future cross-national research (collaborative and comparative research) on extended education we are lacking so far. And thirdly, the volume sheds light on the national and international features of extended education and suggests future developments in this field of education. The volume focuses on childhood and adolescence (through secondary education, including college students), though some lifelong implications are discussed as well. It encompasses 18 articles which cover extended education in 12 different countries around the globe.