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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Educ.

Sec. Leadership in Education

Volume 10 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/feduc.2025.1535659

This article is part of the Research Topic Extended Education - Leadership in Practice View all 6 articles

'Why Do I Do What I Do?' The Meaning of Work from the Perspective of Social Pedagogues as Informal Leaders in All-Day Schools

Provisionally accepted
  • 1 Zurich University of Applied Sciences, Winterthur, Switzerland
  • 2 Zurich University of Teacher Education, Zürich, Zurich, Switzerland

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    The number of all-day schools in Switzerland is growing fast. However, the development of new guidelines and regulations in this field is lagging. In their unique position, the professionals not only execute but also define and lead educational practices in all-day schools. In the present study, problem-based group interviews were conducted with extended educational staff in schools in urban Switzerland to review their educational practices and to uncover the meaning they ascribe to their work. The interviews provided insights into professional beliefs and attitudes and were analyzed using thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006). The data revealed two areas of tension in which social pedagogues operate: on the one hand between "fulfilling individual needs and serving a large number of children" and on the other hand between "providing spaces for experience and building trusting and close relationships with children". Different ways of shaping the work can be determined, depending on the professional background and qualification of the staff. In the future, it is essential to make the work of staff in all-day schools visible and to highlight the challenges in dealing with different demands in the hope that a coherent attitude towards their work will emerge.

    Keywords: all-day school, Educational practice, Educational Policy, Non-formal learning, informal learning, informal leadership, school-based extended education

    Received: 27 Nov 2024; Accepted: 31 Mar 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Scholian, Kappler, Stohler and Schuler Braunschweig. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Andrea Scholian, Zurich University of Applied Sciences, Winterthur, Switzerland

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

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