The role of school in adolescents’ interest in daily life

Abstract

Questioning adolescents’ reported lack of interest in school, this study aims to present a more nuanced understanding than previously described of the role of school in adolescents’ interests in daily life. We scrutinized 7240 interest experiences reported by 44 adolescents using an experience sampling smartphone application inTin. Our analysis revealed that adolescents referred to school in their interest experiences in three ways, reporting interest in school, interest at school, and interest after school. Adolescents differed in the extent to which their interest experiences reflected these ways. One adolescent did not mention school in her interest experiences at all. We provide directions for adolescents’ interest research as well as educational practice, including for teachers to connect to adolescents’ interests.