During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, racism, in the form of white supremacy, shaped relations between whites and Chinese British Columbians. In resisting and accommodating to white supremacy, the Chinese were active participants, along with the members of the dominant society, in shaping these relations. White supremacy was consequently a dynamic system, one whose many parts were continually in flux, and whose central constructs—notions of "race" and British Columbia as "a White Man's province"—were largely political in nature. The thesis argues that white supremacy, as both ideology and organization, was deeply imbedded in British Columbia society. Exclusion based on "race" was incorporated into government institutions as they were remade at Confederation in an effort to enhance the power of white male property-owners. By the early twentieth century, ideological constructs of "the Chinaman" and "the Oriental" were used as foils in the creation of identities as "whites" and as "Canadians." The official public school curriculum transmitted these notions, while schools themselves organized supremacy in practice by imposing racial segregation on many Chinese students. In reaction, the Chinese created their own institutions and ideologies. While these institutions often had continuities with the culture of South China, the place of origin of most B.C. Chinese, they were primarily adaptations to the conditions of British Columbia, including the realities of racism. Chinese language schools played an especially important role in helping to create a Chinese merchant public separate from the dominant society. This public was at once the consequence of exclusion and the greatest community resource in resisting white supremacy. The study concludes by questioning the workability of contemporary anti-racist strategies which treat racism as a marginal phenomenon, or as merely a set of mistaken ideas. Instead, it suggests that such strategies must recognize that racism is one of the major structures of Canadian society. / Education, Faculty of / Curriculum and Pedagogy (EDCP), Department of / Graduate

This descriptive study of campers in Golden Ears, Kokanee Creek, Monck and Bamberton Provincial Parks in British Columbia is based upon 140 on-location personal interviews conducted in the summer of 1967. The clientele have been described in terms of their socio-economic characteristics. Further analysis of the data occurred in testing the hypothesis that there were no statistically significant differences at the five percent level when the variables of age, income, occupation, education and distance from home were compared with a variety of camper needs and preferences. This information may help various agencies concerned with the use of parks to plan educational programs for the park visitor. The study revealed that families were the main users of the four Provincial study parks. The head of the family unit was generally a man possessing some high school education and receiving an annual income of less than $10,000. Most of the respondents visited a succession of Provincial parks while on their camping trips. The tent, as in earlier times, remains the most common form of shelter used by campers. The appeal of a camping holiday was centered mainly on the change of life-style offered by this recreational form. However, campers having a non-professional work background also laid considerable stress on the health and social advantages of camping. The high regard of campers for the Provincial parks interpretation program was made evident by the high percentage of campers who favoured on-site instruction as a preferred means of gaining information about the outdoors. Further confirmation appeared in the expressed wish that some form of the program should be implemented in all of the study parks currently lacking this facility. Continuing education courses with camping content held considerable appeal for the respondents, particularly those under 29 years of age with some university training. / Education, Faculty of / Educational Studies (EDST), Department of / Graduate

No description available.

This research was undertaken to clarify the nature of barriers to persistence in natural resource sciences distance education at the tertiary level in order that participation through to completion may be improved. Its aim was to provide insights and theoretical concepts useful in clarifying distance education access as a whole, while also providing understandings helpful in improving education and communication initiatives concerning sustainable development and the environment. Ethnography was used to illuminate the declarative and tacit understandings of withdrawal and persisting students. Ethnographic interpretations of student understandings were complemented by demographic and other data collected through questionnaires and the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, a psychological survey instrument. Statistical analysis of quantitative data yielded predictive relationships that accounted for 24-39% of the variability in student withdrawal/persistence. However, many variables defy meaningful measurement and quantitative analysis. Overall results suggest that student withdrawal is related to a set of complex multivariables that act additively and interactively in numerous context-dependent ways to result in a dropout decision that is almost idiosyncratic in nature. Nonetheless, important common barriers to persistence are evident. Both withdrawal and persisting students experienced situational, institutional, dispositional and epistemological problems that acted as barriers. A number are relatively unique to second chance learners, who are effectively disadvantaged. Many of the problems students experienced reflect the social contradiction between their roles as students and their roles as mature adults. The newly elucidated cluster of potential barriers to student persistence termed epistemological problems are the result of incongruency between the student's cognitive and affective perceptions of knowledge, and the nature of the knowledge presented in the courses. Although the courses mainly present hard, applied knowledge with a generally positivistic, empirical viewpoint, they also demand high levels of integration and inference. as well as abstract and relativistic thinking. A number of students found the courses' diverse epistemological stances problematic: some thought the content too scientific and technical; a few found it too abstract and ambiguous. Some were challenged by demanding prerequisite knowledge requirements. Still others found it difficult, in the absence of face-to-face interaction with instructors and peers, to make the epistemological shift from learning by rote to higher level thinking. It was concluded that more facilitative instructional design and student support are needed. Distance education persistence could be enhanced by providing students with all the resources and support they need in order to exercise personal control over their learning. A dialogic construct reflecting empathetic response to the views, values, frames of reference and varying dependency states of individual adult learners is suggested. Elucidation of the epistemological problems also provides understandings useful in general improvement of natural resource management education and communication initiatives. Because the highly structured, technical and specific nature of the disciplinary content and the dense formal jargon of the disciplinary discourse in themselves impede effective communication, it appears that natural resource scientists could more effectively share their knowledge if they simplified it, assumed no prior understandings, and helped people learn by informally and subjectively putting it in a more holistic context for them, including making inferences to application and implication.

In contemporary Canadian society women of all "races" are affected by the socially created, racialized and gendered images produced by a culture dominated by "White" males. These images are legacies of Western European cultural history which has traditionally constructed women and people of colour as the "Other", and such constructions have had the effect of restricting women and people of colour from participating fully in mainstream society. While both "White" and "Black" womens' lives have been specifically shaped by such constructs, most "White" women have failed to recognize that "race" has shaped their lives and placed them in a privileged position compared to women of colour, especially "Black" women. In order for "White" (and "Black") women to fully understand racism and sexism, which are both realities of modern societies, it is important for them to understand their historical origins. Therefore, this thesis, in an attempt to address these issues, examines the historical roots and the development of representations of gender and "race" and their specific connections to "Black" and "White" women. The case study involves a focused evaluation of the creation of racialized female symbolism in the early historical narratives of British Columbia between 1858-1900 when the first "Blacks" arrived in the province. These social constructions were compared to the actual lives of "Black" and "White" women of the time in order to gain a clearer understanding of society. The study showed that representations of "White" and "Black" women were often not consistent with the reality of their lives. Women from both groups were frequently able to restructure and, in many cases, reject such images and create their own social reality. The research, while showing that "White" women were given a more privileged position than "Black" women, also illustrated the many similarities between the lives of women from both groups. Finally, by centering both "Black" and "White" women as the subjects of this study, it was possible to view history through a different lense than the traditional male dominated one.

The goals of this thesis are to identify the objectives for creating a Sustainable Community Network (SCN) within B.C., to acknowledge the various tools available to facilitate the network, and to develop illustrative models to guide those contemplating the establishment of a network. Three primary research methods were utilized in this project: literature reviews, group discussion in a focus workshop, and individual interviews. The literature reviewed focused on the fields of collaboration, networks in both technical and social capacities, and coalitions. Four objectives are identified as motives to create a SCN: to provide exchange mechanisms, to organise the "unformalized" field, to create a community of interest, and to be a vehicle for power, influence and empowerment. The emphasis at the beginning should be on building personal relationships over creating an electronic network. Other specific products and services are identified as beneficial for the stakeholders: newsletters, conferences, inventories, facilitation, and a clearinghouse for information. Alternatives for administering the network include a network manager, an administrative body, a governing body, and an intermediary broker. This research helps define networks within the field of planning. They may act as a support system, streamline efforts through collaboration or by reducing duplication of effort, act as a forum for monitoring and assessment activities, and be a source for on-going public participation. Three conceptual models are developed representing a range of possibilities for creating the network. The models are labeled the "Fundamental Network" at the basic level, the "Coalition Network", and the "Collaborative Network" at the most complex level. The need for a SCN is reconfirmed. The network should proceed from a "human scale" and develop the capabilities of the electronic network as computer literacy and technological capacity become generally available. Finally, it is recommended that the network should proceed slowly, building on community objectives and incorporating the diverse activities possible through collaboration as experience is gained. Further research is needed to clarify the potential for networks in planning and management, to better understand the evolving place for computer technology, and to monitor the effectiveness of the networks as they are implemented.

No description available.

Many professionally trained immigrant applicants receive high marks in the selection process for their perceived value to the host Canadian society and economy. Upon arrival, however, many new immigrants find that employers and industry-regulated accreditation boards do not recognize their foreign degrees and work experience. In this thesis, I interview 25 underemployed or unemployed foreign-trained engineers in Vancouver to investigate the diversity of their experiences in the labour market. I focus on how they perceive the obstacles they are facing and how they are responding to these barriers in seeking employment. This thesis is situated in a growing body of literature that considers labour markets as complex, place-contingent, socially and institutionally embedded constructs. Using a "socio-institutionalist" approach, which refutes conventional neoclassical economics' theories of labour markets as free, self-equilibrating, and uninterrupted markets, enables me to compose, then put to work, a multilogical theoretical model that examines the ways in which various institutions control, shape, and govern access to professional engineering jobs in Vancouver. In particular, I draw upon theories of regulatory, social and cultural institutions in the labour market. I find that regulatory institutions, such as the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of British Columbia (APEGBC), create licensing obstacles that are indeed profound for new immigrants. In addition, many recent immigrants are excluded from local social networks that diffuse information about professional job availabilities; assistance is provided through inclusive immigrant and ethnic networks, but this rarely leads to professional employment. Lastly, many newcomers perceive their cultural institutional affiliation to be wanting, and so pursue Canadian academic credentials in an attempt to gain entrance into the market.

In contemporary Canadian society women of all "races" are affected by the socially created, racialized and gendered images produced by a culture dominated by "White" males. These images are legacies of Western European cultural history which has traditionally constructed women and people of colour as the "Other", and such constructions have had the effect of restricting women and people of colour from participating fully in mainstream society. While both "White" and "Black" womens' lives have been specifically shaped by such constructs, most "White" women have failed to recognize that "race" has shaped their lives and placed them in a privileged position compared to women of colour, especially "Black" women. In order for "White" (and "Black") women to fully understand racism and sexism, which are both realities of modern societies, it is important for them to understand their historical origins. Therefore, this thesis, in an attempt to address these issues, examines the historical roots and the development of representations of gender and "race" and their specific connections to "Black" and "White" women. The case study involves a focused evaluation of the creation of racialized female symbolism in the early historical narratives of British Columbia between 1858-1900 when the first "Blacks" arrived in the province. These social constructions were compared to the actual lives of "Black" and "White" women of the time in order to gain a clearer understanding of society. The study showed that representations of "White" and "Black" women were often not consistent with the reality of their lives. Women from both groups were frequently able to restructure and, in many cases, reject such images and create their own social reality. The research, while showing that "White" women were given a more privileged position than "Black" women, also illustrated the many similarities between the lives of women from both groups. Finally, by centering both "Black" and "White" women as the subjects of this study, it was possible to view history through a different lense than the traditional male dominated one. / Arts, Faculty of / Anthropology, Department of / Graduate

The goals of this thesis are to identify the objectives for creating a Sustainable Community Network (SCN) within B.C., to acknowledge the various tools available to facilitate the network, and to develop illustrative models to guide those contemplating the establishment of a network. Three primary research methods were utilized in this project: literature reviews, group discussion in a focus workshop, and individual interviews. The literature reviewed focused on the fields of collaboration, networks in both technical and social capacities, and coalitions. Four objectives are identified as motives to create a SCN: to provide exchange mechanisms, to organise the "unformalized" field, to create a community of interest, and to be a vehicle for power, influence and empowerment. The emphasis at the beginning should be on building personal relationships over creating an electronic network. Other specific products and services are identified as beneficial for the stakeholders: newsletters, conferences, inventories, facilitation, and a clearinghouse for information. Alternatives for administering the network include a network manager, an administrative body, a governing body, and an intermediary broker. This research helps define networks within the field of planning. They may act as a support system, streamline efforts through collaboration or by reducing duplication of effort, act as a forum for monitoring and assessment activities, and be a source for on-going public participation. Three conceptual models are developed representing a range of possibilities for creating the network. The models are labeled the "Fundamental Network" at the basic level, the "Coalition Network", and the "Collaborative Network" at the most complex level. The need for a SCN is reconfirmed. The network should proceed from a "human scale" and develop the capabilities of the electronic network as computer literacy and technological capacity become generally available. Finally, it is recommended that the network should proceed slowly, building on community objectives and incorporating the diverse activities possible through collaboration as experience is gained. Further research is needed to clarify the potential for networks in planning and management, to better understand the evolving place for computer technology, and to monitor the effectiveness of the networks as they are implemented. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Community and Regional Planning (SCARP), School of / Graduate