Introduction

The research of out-of-school learning is problematised, its complexities explored, its challenges laid bare and its highlights celebrated in this edited volume. This is an exciting and dynamic field to research, which encompasses a wide range of types of activity in a wide range of contexts. The activity can include physical, social, artistic and intellectual skills to name a few. The contexts can include the family home, school premises and other sites specifically dedicated to learning – and sites where learning is not necessarily intended but where it happens. Playing organised sports, learning a musical instrument, developing an understanding of gardening or DIY alongside family members, going to museums, belonging to a chess club or computer club, doing homework, learning to get along with others, understanding how you can influence the world around you, etc., are all examples that illustrate (with a far-from exhaustive list) the wide variety of formal and informal, organised and spontaneous activities that come under the banner of out-of-school learning. Our definition is wide. It is therefore not unproblematic since boundaries are not easy to define. Such a wide range of activities are united by what they are not, that they are ‘not school learning’. Researching in this field is not straightforward and raises many challenges. This certainly provides a reason for why it is such an exciting area to explore!