What's new

This study asked 261 young people to report on the meaningfulness of their experiences twice a day for three weeks at an immersion semester high school and three weeks at home, giving 11,498 surveys. Hanging out with peers was the most meaningful activity, and experiences at the immersion schools were more meaningful than those at home. Higher emotion predicted higher meaningfulness whether the experience was positive or negative. Behavioural engagement was more predictive for positive experiences, and psychological engagement was more predictive for negative ones.

Why it matters in Aotearoa

The finding that peer time matters most suggests unstructured social time on camps and trips may be as valuable as planned activities. It also suggests that challenging or negative moments can still be meaningful when young people are psychologically engaged.

Putting it into practice

Protect some unstructured peer time in camp and trip timetables. Plan debriefs that help students engage with difficult moments as well as enjoyable ones.

How strong is the evidence

This is a repeated-measures design with many self-report surveys comparing programme and home. The abstract does not give the settings or details of the programmes.

What to read

The findings on which activities were most meaningful and how emotional valence changed the role of engagement.

Who it's for