This study argues for a transition from imperialism to internationalism in British Columbia educational thought, policy and practice from 1900 to 1939. Three contrasting and complementary internationalist orientations were dominant in British Columbia during that period. Some educators embraced an altruistic “socially transformative internationalism” built on social gospel, pacifist, social reform, cooperative and progressivist notions. This contrasted with a self-interested “competitive advantage internationalism,” more explicitly economic, capitalist and entrepreneurial. A third type was instrumental and practical, using international comparisons and borrowing to support or help explain the other two. The thesis pays special attention to province-wide developments both in government and out. These include the work of the British Columbia Teachers’ Federation (BCTF), of several voluntary organizations, and provincial Department of Education policy and programme innovations. Examples include the rise, demise, and revival of cadet training, technical education, Department curriculum policy, and the work of the Overseas Education League, the National Council on Education, the Junior Red Cross, the World Goodwill Society of British Columbia, the Vancouver Board of Trade, and the League of Nations Society in Canada. A diverse array of BCTF leaders, parents, teachers, voluntary organizations, students, educational policy makers and bureaucrats, editorialists, the general public, and the provincial government supported international education and internationalist outlooks. The argument is supported chiefly by organizational and government documents, by editorials, letters, articles, commentaries, conference reports, and speeches in The B.C. Teacher, by Department of Education and sundry other reports, by League of Nations materials, and by newspapers and other publications. Distinctive imperially-minded educational ideas and practices prevailed in British Columbia from about 1900 to the mid-1920s, whereas explicitly internationalist education notions and practices complemented or overshadowed imperial education from about 1919 to 1939. The transition from imperialism to internationalism in British Columbia education and society coincided with Canada’s industrialization in an interdependent global economy, and its maturation into an independent self governing nation within the Commonwealth and League of Nations. / Education, Faculty of / Educational Studies (EDST), Department of / Graduate

No description available.

No description available.

This thesis provides empirical evidence to assess the long term contribution of the B.C. forest industry to the provincial economy. Estimates of resource rent are constructed to measure the direct contribution of the resource to provincial income and growth. Measures of rent are constructed for a firm level sample (1906-76) and at an industry level (1918-92). The figures for rent are used to generate estimates of the share of provincial income measures directly attributable to the industrial exploitation of the province's forests. While there were periods during which the direct contribution to provincial income and its growth was nontrivial, in general the growth of forest industry rent did not drive overall economic growth but rather lagged behind. Rent was low on average and volatile during the years before W.W.II, rose rapidly from roughly 1940-51, then declined unevenly. To investigate the forces which underlie both the broad trends and the variability in rent, a stylized model of the forest industry is applied in an empirical analysis. Broad changes in aggregate rent were the result of changes in rent per unit of B.C. timber. The rapid increase in rent coincided with a marked rise in the price of forest products. The secular decline resulted from the combination of a falling output price and rising costs. An investigation of real harvesting costs indicates that depletion played a role in this increase. The variability of rent is also explored and found to be most strongly influenced by factors reflecting market risk which the B.C. industry could not diversity away from. The rent measures may not capture the full impact of the forest industry, so the industry's potential role as a leading export sector is also examined. The possibility of a stable long term link between forest exports and provincial income is investigated using cointegration tests. B.C. forest exports and G.D.P. are not cointegrated; their levels axe not linked in a deterministic way in the long run. A bivariate VAR, is used to examine the short run interaction between the growth of forest exports and provincial G.D.P. The results do not strongly support the view that the forest industry acts as a leading export sector in the provincial economy.

Most descriptions of the rise of the Canadian welfare state emphasize that traditional social welfare institutions were always inadequate and it took the Depression to demonstrate the need for better, more comprehensive arrangements. Beyond the enlightening influence of the Depression, the rise of current welfare state institutions is attributed to the efforts and influences of politicians, unions, social reformers, and intellectuals. This myth about the rise of the welfare state has been so widely accepted that there has been little effort expended in examining pre-welfare state social insurance arrangements. The findings of this case study of the Independent Order of Oddfellows of British Columbia (IOOFBC) sickness insurance indicate that before 1930 there was an extensive formalized system of social insurance. The study also reveals that rather than having demonstrated the inadequacies of the traditional welfare mechanisms, the severe economic conditions of the Depression devastated the existing social insurance arrangements which created the impetus for the rise of the welfare state. Up until 1930, membership in a fraternal organization, like the Independent Order of Oddfellows (IOOF), was one of the most important sources of sickness/health insurance and life insurance throughout the world. Fraternal insurers were able to provide insurance at a lower cost than commercial insurers through their non-profit motive and their use of screening and peer monitoring practices to alleviate problems of adverse selection and moral hazard. Until 1930, 13% of the population in British Columbia had sickness/health insurance coverage through fraternal membership. Critics of fraternal insurance argued that while fraternal insurers may have had low costs, they led a financially precarious existence due to their hazardous pricing practices. An analysis of IOOFBC lodges for the period 1891 to 1950 reveals that this is not a good explanation of the decline of fraternal insurance. Even with the most hazardous of pricing practices, IOOFBC lodges had almost no probability of being bankrupted by high claims. Early in lodge operations, surplus revenues were invested in assets, like the lodge hall, which generated revenues that subsidized lodge operations and benefit payments. Given that fraternal insurers were viable, why was fraternal membership not an important source of insurance coverage after the Depression? An analysis of the memberships of four IOOFBC lodges over the period 1891 to 1980 reveals that the devastation of fraternal memberships in the Depression promoted the growth of alternative (commercial and government) insurance arrangements. In the 1930s, more workers than ever before were without sickness insurance coverage. As the probability of suspension for non-payment of dues tripled, workers would have had little expectation of remaining in a fraternal membership long enough to collect sick benefits that were primarily needed after age 45. Through and after the Depression, IOOFBC lodges abandoned their insurance functions. Lodge memberships had "aged" so much between 1930 and 1945 that the increased lodge benefit liabilities made reforming the IOOFBC's beneficial systems impractical. If changes were not made to the IOOFBC subordinate lodges' dues and benefits, lodges would have had to potentially draw on their assets to meet their inflated obligations. The solution adopted was to abandon sick benefits altogether as members who had always been opposed to the insurance.

Most descriptions of the rise of the Canadian welfare state emphasize that traditional social welfare institutions were always inadequate and it took the Depression to demonstrate the need for better, more comprehensive arrangements. Beyond the enlightening influence of the Depression, the rise of current welfare state institutions is attributed to the efforts and influences of politicians, unions, social reformers, and intellectuals. This myth about the rise of the welfare state has been so widely accepted that there has been little effort expended in examining pre-welfare state social insurance arrangements. The findings of this case study of the Independent Order of Oddfellows of British Columbia (IOOFBC) sickness insurance indicate that before 1930 there was an extensive formalized system of social insurance. The study also reveals that rather than having demonstrated the inadequacies of the traditional welfare mechanisms, the severe economic conditions of the Depression devastated the existing social insurance arrangements which created the impetus for the rise of the welfare state. Up until 1930, membership in a fraternal organization, like the Independent Order of Oddfellows (IOOF), was one of the most important sources of sickness/health insurance and life insurance throughout the world. Fraternal insurers were able to provide insurance at a lower cost than commercial insurers through their non-profit motive and their use of screening and peer monitoring practices to alleviate problems of adverse selection and moral hazard. Until 1930, 13% of the population in British Columbia had sickness/health insurance coverage through fraternal membership. Critics of fraternal insurance argued that while fraternal insurers may have had low costs, they led a financially precarious existence due to their hazardous pricing practices. An analysis of IOOFBC lodges for the period 1891 to 1950 reveals that this is not a good explanation of the decline of fraternal insurance. Even with the most hazardous of pricing practices, IOOFBC lodges had almost no probability of being bankrupted by high claims. Early in lodge operations, surplus revenues were invested in assets, like the lodge hall, which generated revenues that subsidized lodge operations and benefit payments. Given that fraternal insurers were viable, why was fraternal membership not an important source of insurance coverage after the Depression? An analysis of the memberships of four IOOFBC lodges over the period 1891 to 1980 reveals that the devastation of fraternal memberships in the Depression promoted the growth of alternative (commercial and government) insurance arrangements. In the 1930s, more workers than ever before were without sickness insurance coverage. As the probability of suspension for non-payment of dues tripled, workers would have had little expectation of remaining in a fraternal membership long enough to collect sick benefits that were primarily needed after age 45. Through and after the Depression, IOOFBC lodges abandoned their insurance functions. Lodge memberships had "aged" so much between 1930 and 1945 that the increased lodge benefit liabilities made reforming the IOOFBC's beneficial systems impractical. If changes were not made to the IOOFBC subordinate lodges' dues and benefits, lodges would have had to potentially draw on their assets to meet their inflated obligations. The solution adopted was to abandon sick benefits altogether as members who had always been opposed to the insurance. / Arts, Faculty of / Vancouver School of Economics / Graduate

This study focused on public school home economics education in British Columbia between 1903-1939. The aim was to examine how home economics educators of this time period worked to have home economics recognized as a compulsory school subject, and how their accomplishments were influenced by contemporary events and progressive education ideals. Documents were analyzed, compared and synthesized to form as accurate a picture as possible of the conditions under which the place of home economics in the school system was justified. Sources used included annual reports of the public schools, curriculum documents, newspapers and special interest publications, and relevant writings of the principal actors. The time period 1903-1939 was divided into three sections. In the formative years (1903-1924) home economics was directed towards girls' vocational training as homemakers. Early home economics educators viewed the subject as a means of teaching about the middle-class "home ideal" through the inculcation of good habits of cleanliness, exactness and order. A problem arose because home economics, like other forms of practical education, was marginal, not central to the school system. It was not viewed seriously or made a priority except as it related to girls' education. Advocates of home economics decided that home economics would gain legitimacy if it were more regulated and accepted for matriculation credit, and worked toward this end. The 1924-25 survey of the British Columbia school system by J.H. Putman and G. M. Weir and the resulting Putman-Weir Report (1925) cemented many progressive education ideas. The Report placed home economics in an ambivalent position by promoting it as a means of teaching both cultural and vocational values and criticizing it for lack of organization and poorly trained teachers. The Putman-Weir Report reaffirmed contemporary ideas about the role of home economics in socializing female students and building a healthy nation. Political and economic factors kept the implementation of the Report on hold for eight years, with the exception of the appointment of Jessie McLenaghen as first Provincial, Director of Home Economics for the Department of Education in 1926. Jessie McLenaghen set about proving the worth of home economics and ensuring its place in the public school system. The student population of home economics changed from elementary to secondary school students accompanied by increased formalization such as examinations and use of a textbook. Home economics at the secondary school level required teachers with university degrees but there was no Chair of Home Economics at the University of British Columbia to train them. Consequently there were many unqualified teachers. A prescriptive curriculum and teacher inspections were seen as necessary to counteract this. The end result was an overemphasis on standards and technical instruction under the guise of promoting worthy home membership. After the curriculum revision of 1936, home economics was in the ambivalent state of a practical subject in an academic setting, forced to conform to 40-50 minute periods and examinations. It was female-dominated in an education system oriented to male values and a field which contained technical knowledge as well as moral and ethical standards. Jessie McLenaghen's actions of unifying and reconciling the home economics curriculum had ensured its survival, but in a truncated form. Home economics did not last as a compulsory subject past the Chant Commission of 1960 when many New Education ideas were discarded. Conformity was emphasized over the recognition of individual differences in homes and families, and the practical importance of home economics was submerged. In summary, a challenge is presented for home economics to re-examine and reclaim its practical roots. Suggestions for further study are made. / Education, Faculty of / Curriculum and Pedagogy (EDCP), Department of / Graduate

The central concern of this dissertation is to understand the nature of political authority in pre-Confederation British Columbia through an examination of the colony's law and its courts. In British Columbia, as in other parts of the Anglo-North American world, the law was closely associated with maintaining and upholding political authority, by contributing to both its institutional and ethical foundations. The ability of states to do acts of a specified nature and to impose sanctions if impeded-- its authority -- rests on consent to the "rule of law." The rule of law encompasses the idea that everyone is subject to the same rules of conduct, sanctions and rewards regardless of his condition. Ultimately, the rule of law guarantees equality in an otherwise inequitable world. Commentators have pointed out that the rule of law is a fiction. Law is normative, and hence the authority it upholds is as well. In British Columbia the rule of law was firmly tied to the market, not the moral economy. British Columbia's law and courts bore the imprint of the colony's commercial economy and its geography. Colonial law and the courts provided a rule-bound arena in which to resolve disputes in a predictable, efficient and standardized manner that suited the demands of a market economy. Capitalism also profoundly shaped the ethical basis on which political authority in British Columbia rested. Commerce involved people in complex relationships. Trials to resolve commercial disputes reflected this complexity. They were lengthy affairs which generated masses of detailed and often technical information. If the demands of the commercial economy for predictable, efficient and standardized conflict resolution were to be met, the Intervention of experts, like lawyers, who could impose order on this mass of information was necessary. Political authority In British Columbia became less paternal and resident in the person of the Judge, and more textual and embedded in printed statutes, precedents and legal texts, as well as the experts who could interpret them. / Arts, Faculty of / History, Department of / Graduate

This study describes the evolution of the British Columbia business education curriculum from 1875 to 1990. Since the 'official' curriculum document at any particular time represents the central focus of formal educational endeavours, it and related ensuing specific business subject curricula were the central objects of analysis for this study. The primary or "parent" document of the general curriculum for each important revision period was examined first for such clues as its language, purposes, aims, emphases and concerns gave to its philosophy and general orientation. Next, each of the commercial/business programmes that issued from that major revision was examined in order to determine its relationship to the "parent" document. Individual courses within the programmes were then analyzed. Finally, each curriculum was examined to ascertain its relationship with its social, economic, political and historical contexts. Some important themes have emerged: a shift in the clientele for business education, a series of changes in the focus of the programme, and some related changes in the status of the field. The evolution of commercial education from a course of study for 'gentlemen' into one for an almost exclusively female clientele by mid-century, into one for both genders by 1990 greatly affected the contents and emphases of prescribed programmes. The contents and emphases of those prescribed programmes were also determined by the broader social, political and economic contexts in which they operated. During certain periods, the programme presented an image of business as "offic work", and thus utilitarian, functional, nonacademic, and of primary interest to female students. Emphasis on "entry-level" skills for office employment characterized the programme. At those times its prestige within the school subject hierarchy tended to be low. At other times business education was a more general course, theoretical, and fairly academic in nature, presenting a broad conception of the business world. In those periods business education included theories and practices related to owning, directing and conducting business as well as office skills and routines. During these times, business education enjoyed high status within the school subject hierarchy, and appealed to both male and female students. In addition, the status of business education depended on the attention it received from such influential entities as strong business interest groups, and the federal and provincial governments. While more tentative than some of the other considerations the thesis does examine the interrelationships amongst such elements as curriculum, academic and nonacademic streaming, gender roles, employment training, and political and economic agendas of government. Although the exact impact that each had in determining business education curricula is not yet entirely clear, their central role in the process is made amply clear in this descriptive study. / Education, Faculty of / Curriculum and Pedagogy (EDCP), Department of / Graduate

Access to archival holdings is one of the fundamental problems faced by archivists. The difficulties in providing access to the wide variety of subjects contained with even one archives is further complicated by the changing fields of research which require the use of archives. Neither provenance based or subject indexing access systems have been able to cope with these changing needs. The creation of thematic guides has been an attempt to offer more flexible subject access to collections since each guide deals with a separate topic. Despite their value in providing access to current themes, the thematic guide has been simply a listing of collections and does not offer any analysis of how various forms of records, their availability and their uses relate to the subject. The creation of such a critical guide forms the bulk of the paper. To investigate the effectiveness of this type of guide, records which relate to the study of the history of the family in British Columbia were identified. This particular subject area was chosen because of its relative newness and since many of the records applicable to its study are not easily found. The holdings of the British Columbia Archives and Records Service and the City of Vancouver Archives provided the relevant materials for the study. The records chosen as useful to the study of the family were listed and many collections were examined closely. From this review of holdings, an analysis of records types and their value to the study of the family in British Columbia was developed. Standard appraisal and descriptive techniques were employed for the analysis. In addition, a study of past research uses was done to provide a better understanding of how the records could be employed. It was found that a critical guide could be produced using modifications of standard formats, such as the basic form for inventories suggested by the Society of American Archivists. In addition, appraisal criteria were applied to the categories of documents in order to assess their value. Using these standardized techniques means that an analysis of record types will be better understood by others. The critical guide offers a vehicle for archivists to provide researchers with more information about the records in a less haphazard fashion. / Arts, Faculty of / Library, Archival and Information Studies (SLAIS), School of / Graduate