Abstract
In this study pupils in grades 1 through 9 (ages 7–16) of the Swedish comprehensive school rated their interests in mathematics and Swedish (separately for reading and writing). They also judged other aspects of their school work and situation, such as need for control and challenging tasks, their perception of the teacher, their concern with how well other pupils succeeded, and their well-being at school. Teachers rated their level of achievement in Swedish and mathematics. It was found that interests tended to decrease over time, especially in mathematics. High achievers were more interested but they as well as low achievers showed a drop in interest over the years at school. Need for control rose and general well-being dropped. The developmental trends of the interest variables could not be accounted for by a rising need for control. The decrements in challenge and well-being could explain a part of these trends in Swedish but not in mathematics.
Résumé
599 élèves de l’école compréhensive suédoise, agés de 7 à 16 ans, ont exprimé leur intérêt pour les mathématiques et le Suédois (lecture, écriture) qui leur sont enseignés. Ils ont également fourni d’autres appréciations relatives à leur insertion et à leur travail scolaire: besoin de contrôle, besoin d’affrontement à des tâches, perception de l’enseignant, attention à la reussite des autres élèves, sentiment d’être à l’aise à l’école. Les enseignants quand à eux ont fourni des évaluations de la reussite de ces élèves dans les deux disciplines ci-dessus montionnées. Les résultats montrent que l’intérêt décroit au fil des années, en particulier en mathématiques. Le phénomène est le même pour les mauvais et les bons élèves, même si ces derniers manifestent un plus grand intérêt pour les contenus scolaires. Alors que le sentiment de bien-être décroit, le besoin de contrôle exprimé augmente; cette dernière variation est indépendante de la chûte d’intérêt.
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This study was partly supported by a grant from the Office of the Chancellor of the Swedish Universities. We wish to thank several people in Boras who were helpful in making the study possible,viz. Chief Education Officer Hans Rosendahl and the School Managers.
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Hedelin, L., Sjöberg, L. The development of interests in the Swedish comprehensive school. Eur J Psychol Educ 4, 17–35 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03172758
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03172758