All-Day is not Just an Afternoon – by Prof. Dr Gerlind Große

From August 2026, a new phase of all-day education will begin. The legal entitlement to all-day support for children of primary school age will be introduced in stages. The All-Day Support Act is more than just an administrative burden on the federal states, local authorities, school governing bodies and youth welfare services. It shifts the focus. Anyone who, in future, bears institutional responsibility for spending more time with children must be able to explain more precisely how this time is being used for educational purposes. All-day schooling must not simply become an extension of the morning. Nor must it result in the misconception that learning takes place in the morning and childcare in the afternoon.

A good all-day programme begins with a different conception of time. Children do not learn in 45-minute intervals; they do not develop according to timetables; and they do not develop independence simply because adults string together a series of activities. All-day schooling means that the entire day is regarded as educational time. This includes periods of concentrated learning as well as physical activity, play, quiet time, shared meals, conversations, projects, conflicts, transitions and free time. It is precisely in these seemingly unspectacular situations that it is determined whether school becomes a place of learning and living.

The Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs describes all-day programmes as an expanded range of educational and care provision that combines learning, leisure and support activities, thereby strengthening educational quality, personal development and equality of opportunity. In its specialist guidance, Berlin refers to the school as an all-day place of learning and living that links learning to pupils’ everyday lives and requires structures geared towards their learning abilities, needs and interests. This is more than just a policy statement. It is at the heart of the upcoming debate on quality.

A key response to this is ‘rhythmisation’. Not as a matter of timetable aesthetics, but as a pedagogical principle. A sensibly structured all-day programme organises time not only efficiently, but in a way that is appropriate for children and conducive to learning: periods of concentration alternate with physical activity, in-depth study with relaxation, guided learning processes with independent study time, and individual work with social interaction. Berlin’s specialist guidance on rhythmisation explicitly points out that many primary schools no longer operate in rigid 45-minute units and are recombining lesson time, free time and individual learning time.

Reform-oriented schools in particular demonstrate what this can lead to. When the day is structured rhythmically, it is not only the external structure that changes, but also the educational role of adults. Teachers, nursery teachers, social educators, learning support staff, school social workers and school management no longer operate within separate areas of responsibility. Together, they bear responsibility for ensuring that children can find their own learning paths, try things out, use mistakes constructively, build relationships, resolve conflicts and take responsibility for their own learning.

This is a challenging task. It is not enough simply to extend teaching materials into the afternoon. Nor is it enough to organise after-school care programmes to be as varied as possible. The crucial question is how learning processes are supported throughout the day. Who recognises what a child is currently working on? Who recognises when a child needs space and when they need encouragement? Who helps to clarify a goal without dictating to the child? Who provides feedback that offers guidance rather than causing embarrassment? Who ensures that quiet children are not overlooked, that children involved in conflict are not merely managed, and that high-achieving children are not simply left to their own devices?

This is where all-day schooling directly touches on the issue of equality of opportunity. Spending more time in educational settings can mitigate social inequality – but only if this time is structured in a meaningful way. All-day schooling opens up learning opportunities that are not dependent on the home environment: access to language, culture, physical activity, project work, relationships, support and reflection. It can help children develop learning strategies, experience a sense of self-efficacy and gain experiences that might otherwise remain out of their reach. But this potential does not arise automatically. It requires professional attention and pedagogical design.

A shared understanding of education within the team is crucial for this. All-day schooling brings together different professions that have historically been socialised in different ways: teaching, after-school care, youth support, school social work, therapy, counselling and parental engagement. Each of these perspectives is important. But without a common language, parallel worlds emerge. Then one side talks about achievement, the other about needs; one about support, the other about relationships; one about structure, the other about freedom. Children sense such disconnects immediately. Good all-day education therefore requires mutual understanding: regarding learning, development, responsibility, participation, relationships and boundaries.

Schools such as the "Leipziger Modellschule" demonstrates just how closely these issues are interlinked. Mixed-age learning, project-based work, inclusive settings, self-organised learning periods and all-day schooling cannot be considered in isolation from one another. Those who support children throughout the day shape learning environments, relationships and spaces for development all at once. Quality then lies not only in individual methods, but in the structure of the whole day: when is there guidance? When is there freedom of choice? When is there feedback? When is there practice? When is there community? When is there quiet?

This brings to the fore a concept that has so far been defined with too little precision in the debate on all-day schooling: learning process support. This does not refer to yet another educational label. It refers to a professional practice that observes, interprets, structures, supports and reflects on learning. Learning process facilitators observe not just outcomes, but processes. They look not only at deficits, but at resources, barriers and possible next steps. They shape not only conversations, but also tasks, spaces, routines, portfolios and feedback formats.

Good learning process support does not begin with a tool, but with an attitude. How do I view children? Do I believe they are capable of development? How do I respond to resistance, mistakes or feeling overwhelmed? Where do I prescribe too much, and where do I leave too much open? How do I strike a balance between protection and unreasonable demands, relationships and clarity, autonomy and structure? Such questions are not merely soft, peripheral issues. They determine whether all-day schooling becomes a place of control or a space for development.

Digital and AI-supported tools will also play a role in this development. They can support learning journals, portfolios, documentation, the development of teaching materials or individual learning pathways. But they do not solve the pedagogical task. On the contrary: the more technology becomes integrated into educational processes, the more important the professional judgement of adults becomes. What should be automated – and what should not? What data may be used? How can decisions remain transparent? How do we prevent digital systems from exacerbating existing inequalities? The question is not whether AI is present in all-day schooling. The question is whether it is used in a pedagogically responsible manner.

The legal entitlement to all-day support therefore compels the education system to do more than simply expand its provision. It compels it to clarify its approach. What do we mean by education throughout the whole day? What role do relationships, self-regulation, assessment, feedback and spatial design play? How do different professional groups work together? And how can institutions not only look after children for longer, but also support them more effectively?

The certificate course ‘Holistic Learning Process Design’ at the University of Applied Sciences Potsdam addresses this intersection. It is aimed at professionals from schools, all-day care, counselling and educational development who wish to support learning processes professionally and design learning environments effectively. The focus is on a systemic approach, learning psychology and self-regulation, development-oriented assessment, the design of learning settings, the quality of interaction and teamwork, and the responsible use of digital and AI-supported tools.

The course itself is structured in the way that good all-day education should be conceived: experience-oriented, reflective, practical and highly transferable. Participants work on their own case studies, develop a practical project, and make use of portfolio work, peer learning and accompanying reflection formats. This not only builds knowledge about supporting learning processes, but also creates a professional action plan for one’s own field of work.

The expansion of all-day schooling is more than just a structural reform. It is an invitation to redesign education across the entire day: rhythmic, relationship-oriented, inclusive and equitable.

With the certificate course ‘Holistic Learning Process Design’, the University of Applied Sciences Potsdam is addressing this developmental challenge. The continuing professional development programme offers a scientifically sound and practice-oriented framework for professionally supporting learning processes, designing learning environments and further developing multi-professional collaboration within one’s own field. The course comprises 15 ECTS credits and concludes with a university certificate from the University of Applied Sciences Potsdam.

About the author

Prof. Dr Gerlind Große is a Research Professor in Early Childhood Education Research at the University of Applied Sciences Potsdam and Dean of the Department of Social and Educational Sciences. As head of the PINA Research Laboratory, she conducts research and works on supporting learning processes, school and all-day care development, the quality of pedagogical interaction, inclusive education and the design of effective learning environments. Another focus of her work is the responsible use of digital and AI-supported technologies in educational processes.

Interested in the continuing professional development course ‘Holistic Learning Process Design’?

The continuing professional development programme is currently being prepared. If you would like to receive early information about the course start date or register your interest without obligation, please feel free to contact us. On request, we will add you to our list of interested parties and inform you as soon as further details and the registration form are available.