One in seven Canadian women lives in poverty. There is a considerable body of research on the factors that cause women’s poverty in Canada and on how poverty affects women’s lives. There are also a number of programs and organizations that help women living in poverty. However, there is a lack of research that examines the meanings and experiences women have with these programs and the role these programs may play in their lives. This study has attempted to fill this gap by examining an innovative training and employment program for women living in poverty. A qualitative approach was taken, which included in-depth, semi-structured interviews with eight women who had recently completed the program, as well as an informal interview with the program director. The interviews explored the women’s experiences with the program, the meanings they associated with the program, and the ways in which participation in the program had influenced their lives. A grounded theory approach was used to analyze the interview data, and socialist feminist theory provided a lens to guide the study as a whole. The analysis led to the development of a number of themes and sub-themes. Safety, stability and connections with others were found to be particularly meaningful and important components of the program. These features enabled the participants to discover a new sense of self through the development of skills, confidence and empowerment. These findings suggest the importance of providing a holistic program, and one that addresses the broad range of challenges and concerns that affect the lives of women in poverty. Programs that focus narrowly on employment and job training may be insufficient. The implications of this research are discussed in terms of the diverse needs of women living in poverty and the range of barriers that they face. Community programs such as the one studied can help women make significant gains in their lives, which can, in turn, contribute to overcoming poverty and achieving economic independence.

For hundreds of years, supporters of the traditional Martial Arts have spoken of the ability to promote the personal development of the practitioner through serious training practices (Lu, 2008). The connection between personal development and mind-body training practices is illustrated in the Japanese concept of budo, which applies generally to “those Martial Arts that have more than a combat dimension” (Lawler, 1996, p.9). While the physical training is similar to other forms of combat (such as boxing or military training), it is the philosophical focus of the training as a form of personal development that makes budo a unique characteristic of certain forms of Martial Arts practice. The current study attempts to examine the way in which training in the Martial Arts affects the overall lifestyle of the individual. Understanding the main relationship between Martial Arts participation and personal wellbeing, and how this is influenced by the identity of the participant, represents the central focus of the current study. While the main relationship being studied is the one between Martial Arts participation and well-being, there are several l factors at play in influencing this central relationship. Given the unique connection of mind and body in the practice of the Martial Arts, one factor that influences the relationship between Martial Arts participation and well-being is the spirituality of the individual practitioner. The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between Martial Arts participation and well-being, and to investigate how this central relationship is influenced by the associated concepts of identity, spirituality, serious leisure, motivation, and involvement. This study found that although Martial Arts participation displayed significant power in predicting wellbeing scores, the psycho-social factors associated with the training experience heavily shaped this relationship. The results of this study also suggest that it is not the style of Martial Arts participation, but the way the individual engages with the act of training and incorporates it into their daily life that separates individuals.

There is a gap in our field regarding leisure research on specific ethnic groups. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to understand the experience of leisure and of involvement in the First Chinese Senior Association of Vaughan (FCSAV) for Chinese adults aged 50 to 65 years who have been living in Canada for at least five years. As this is a phenomenological study, the main focus is on the meanings and experiences of these participants. Purposeful sampling methods were used to find participants who fit the study criteria of being a Chinese immigrant from Mainland China and/or Hong Kong, living in Canada for at least five years, between the ages of 50 to 65, a member of the First Chinese Senior Association of Vaughan, and participating in at least one activity at the Centre at the time of interview. Altogether, 13 face-to-face semi-structured interviews were conducted over two weeks in July 2010. Five main essences were developed from the analysis of the interview data: changing leisure with changing culture; achieving and maintaining health; experiencing freedom and choice; cultural expression and cultural learning; and feeling a sense of community. Interestingly, there was also an overarching theme of leisure as an essential component to life. These findings exemplify the great value Chinese immigrants place upon leisure as they experienced it at the FCSAV as well as its connection to holistic health. Also, leisure at the club was described as a site for cultural expression and the development of community. Overall, implications of this study will be of most value to recreation practitioners and researchers by allowing for greater cultural sensitivity in developing and enhancing programs for this specific group.

Aboriginal Peoples are an underrepresented population in the Canadian work force. This is partially due to barriers to educational attainment among Aboriginal Peoples. One way to enhance educational attainment is through recreation and leisure participation. The purpose of this study was to develop an understanding of how recreation and leisure participation is associated with academic retention among Métis youth. It is a secondary analysis of the 2006 Aboriginal Peoples Survey, Métis supplement. Using a sub-sample of 27,270 Métis youth (ages 15 – 17) who had not completed a high school diploma, high school retention was assessed and compared by participation in physical, sedentary, civic engagement, and traditional leisure activities. Older Métis youth, those living in urban areas, and those who had moved more times in the previous five years, were more likely to be not currently attending school. However, when examining leisure activities, those who participated in more physical leisure activities and were members of a club were more likely to be attending school. The aim of this study was to determine if recreation and leisure activities are associated with Métis youth academic retention. The results showed that some forms of leisure participation were associated with staying in school, and it is recommended that policies should be put in place to encourage recreation and leisure participation as it is associated with academic retention, which may enhance Métis youths’ employment prospects.

There has been an increased focus on balancing multiple life roles and managing the boundary between work and family. To minimize employees’ work life balance issues, organizations have turned to policies such as flextime, on-site childcare, and other mechanisms to ensure that engaging in one’s family does not interfere with work (Rothbard, 2001). The purpose of this study is to explore employees’ use of tactics to manage their work and life stress; particularly the employees’ use of resources and social support as well as their perceptions of flexibility. Eight employees who work in the not-for-profit sector were interviewed. Narrative inquiry was used and qualitative interviews were conducted. What was found was that employees seek flexibility, support and understanding from their supervisor.

I have in my thesis examined what a leisure pedagogue does in school. I have asked the questions how it is with interaction between leisure pedagogues and teachers according to policy documents and according to the interviews I did with three professionals. In the literature part I began by describing the historical background to the after-school and leisure pedagogue profession until the new teacher education in 2011th.  My theory section, in previous research and theory, focuses on interaction between leisure pedagogue and teacher. In the research part I describe the interviews I did with three leisure pedagogue on three separate occasions. The results show that there are variations in the profession and that the interaction takes place if the teacher and the principal want. Also that reality is not as it is written in all policy documents. In my conclusion and discussion I talk about the leisure pedagogue’s competence, interaction and life skills for a discussion on how it looks according to the leisure pedagogues I interviewed, but also based on previous literature that I have also mentioned. I am here writing about the answer to my questions that I partly have been able to answer based on my investigation.

To be an island, Taiwan owns an abundant ocean environment, therefore, it is good to develop varied marine activities. Keel-boat is one of the important activities just budding from the branch. Our study explored the development of keel-boat activity in Taiwan, following with an analysis framework of four-function development, i.e., leisure, sports, education, and industry. Methods of case study and qualitative skills, such as interviews, documentary analysis, and observation were used in this study, including applying on varied actors, i.e., governmental units, NGOs, business, and individuals. Data was analyzed under the four-function framework and some results had been produced as the following: 1. Leisure and sports are dominant functions of keel-boat activity in the post development. However, leisure should be the future developing direction. 2. The actors in private sector play an important role to promote keel-boat leisure. 3. Some regulations needed to be changed for the development of keel-boat activity.

The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) offers over 25 different outdoor recreational and outreach educational programs that target different audiences and utilize different types of delivery systems. This study was an evaluation of an educational program called Becoming an Outdoors-Woman (BOW). The evaluation produced a measurement instrument that evaluated program effectiveness and tested the instrument on past participants. The questionnaire determined respondents’: (1) history of program participation, (2) knowledge of TPWD’s mission and purpose, (3) level of involvement in selected outdoor recreational activities before and after program participation, (4) knowledge of basic outdoor recreational regulations and behaviors, (5) level of compliance with a variety of outdoor recreational behaviors, (6) attitudinal position on opposing statements on outdoor recreational ethics or behaviors, and (7) demographic characteristics. The two groups surveyed were all participants of BOW between 1993 and 1998 (n = 1,240) and the control group (n = 61) made of women who had signed up for the program but had not yet attended. Sampling error for the participants was high, but met the statistically acceptable range of repeatable results at +/- 3%. The only demographic difference (P ≤ 0.05) between groups was age, i.e., BOW participants were older (χ2 = 46.3) than the control group (χ2 = 40.8). Chi-square tests showed differences in awareness of the missions and goals of TPWD. GLM tests detected no differences (P ≤ 0.05) between the participants and the control group in general outdoor knowledge, behavior given various outdoor recreational scenarios and ethical positions on dichotomous statements. However, there were differences between groups on some items within each of those categories. On those items the r2 value (≤ 0.02) showed that the difference found between groups had little to do with program participation. Respondents’ comments focused on the BOW program, the questionnaire, and TPWD. Study findings are discussed in the context of the program evaluation process. Several recommendations for future program evaluations and concluding remarks are included in this thesis.

This study examined the Texas Renaissance Festival as perceived and experienced by (serious) visitors for whom this was a form of regular, repeated and highly meaningful participation. Specifically, the focus was to gain understanding of the notion of serious leisure as defined by Stebbins, in the context of festivals, and to understand the meanings associated with festival participation. Following a qualitative (constructivism paradigm) research frame, the data were collected through participant observation and 37 in-depth interviews for highly committed tourists to the Texas Renaissance Festival. The collected data were analyzed through Grounded Theory techniques specified by Glaser (1978). In regard to the characteristics of participation, the results indicated that their continuous participation in the Texas Renaissance Festival displays qualities of serious leisure: 1) identification; 2) long-term career; 3) unique ethos; 4) significant personal effort; 5) perseverance; and 6) durable personal benefits. As they become more seriously involved in the festival participation, they tend to be a part of a well-integrated subculture of which prominent values include personal freedom, hedonism, and anti-materialism. The experiences constructed through the serious festival participation were reminiscent of tourism existential authenticity specified by Wang (1999) as two levels: intrapersonal authenticity (gaining one’s true self) and interpersonal authenticity (gaining true human relationship). A search of such authentic experiences at the festival seems to be partly driven by the perceived alienation in everyday life. When these aspects were examined from an interpretive and meaning-based approach, attending the festival in a serious manner is not just a simple matter of escaping from the reality (e.g., alienation) of everyday life, but is an active quest for an “alternative” to their lives at home as many indicated. Thus, the serious participation in a tourism activity such as the Texas Renaissance Festival could be best understood as a dynamic process of attaining existential state of Being in response to diverse sociocultural conditions. Several significant theoretical propositions were made based on the results derived from this study. Additionally, marketing and management implications associated with staging tourism events and festivals were discussed.

The purpose of this study was to identify benefits and constraints associated with the use of urban parks by a sample of elderly in Hong Kong. Before studying these topics, self-perception of aging of the elderly in Hong Kong was explored. In-depth interviews were conducted with 13 individuals inside and 12 outside the Tsuen Wan Jockey Club Tak Wah Park. Purposive sampling was used to select the sample. The interviews were semi-structured, based on an interview guide of open-ended questions. Results of the study suggested that although there are some differences in explanations of aging among different countries, some aging models and theories which have been developed in western countries can be employed to interpret the aging phenomenon in Hong Kong. Several constraints and health-related social and psychological benefits of attending a park were reported by the sample. Heterogeneity of leisure constraints among different age cohorts of the elderly was found in the study. Although similarities were found between the benefits reported in this study and those reported in western countries, the magnitude of benefits received from visiting parks may be different because of the different characteristics of elderly in different countries.