The Use of the Interview in Teaching Adolescent Development.Hill, N. E. & McKinney, J. P. (1998). In J. P. McKinney, L. B. Schiamberg, & L. G. Shelton (Eds.), Teaching about adolescence: An ecological approach. (pp. 203-218). New York: Garland Publishing.
An interview can serve as an interesting and effective device in teaching adolescent development. For years, we have interviewed groups of adolescents at different developmental levels every year in front of a univerity or colleage adolescent development class. We have found this to be an excellent way to bring to life such primary developmental issues as personality, cognition, social relations, family life, school experience, identity, occupational goals and aspirations, health and religious and spiritual values. The interview is, of course, used in a variety of other ways in the social sciences as well. In this chapter, we outlined the various uses of the interview and then focus on the interview as an educational tool in teaching adolescence.